Last weekend was Alexander's first swim meet, and as he is the only Martin child that has ever been on a swim team, it was also my first swim meet. I was completely overwhelmed and undereducated about this world, but we rallied and learned how things are run, wrote races on his arm with a sharpie and went home completely exhausted after a five hour day.
The view from above the gym where families set up to rest between races:
My favorite swimmer, who did great and loves the sport:
I was embarrassed that he wasn't wearing the speedo-shorts that all the other boys were wearing (which I learned were called "jammers") and ordered him a couple pairs plus a swim cap. You live, you learn, you wear tight swim suits.
Meanwhile Phil and the older kids were working at The Ice Cream Cottage for the last weekend of the season. One of my coworkers, who has been our #1 ice cream fan, brought in treats for the kids at The Cottage. Isn't that so sweet and thoughtful?
The crew on the last night:
Maggie is really into gold hoop earrings right now, and I have always loved more unique styles like my newest earrings that I was able to review...which are the perfect blend of hoop and unique! Maggie will be borrowing, I'm sure.
Phil and I were able to escape for a delicious dinner to celebrate the end of the season...fried scallops and onion rings will be my last meal on earth if I have a choice. And his will be chicken fingers and fries!
Phil's college roomie has a daughter, Maria, at Franciscan right now (who happens to be dating our nephew!) and she is studying in Austria this semester. She went on a trip to visit the Holy Land and arrived in Israel just hours before the fighting began. You can imagine how worried everybody was for their group, and how relieved I was to see this message from her mom:
I was nervous enough while JP was travelling safely through Europe last fall, I can't begin to imagine the terror I would have felt if I was Maria's mom. Thanks be to God they are safely back in Austria. Now we need to pray for everyone who is actually involved in the horrific fighting and can't escape.
Some meals (no photos, bad blogger) from this week:
Taco Wreath with raw veggies
Asian Pork Tenderloin with rice and green beans
Chicken Chili for lunches this week - just followed this recipe but replaced ground chicken for ground beef and added spinach too.
We also had chicken fingers and fries and carrot sticks one night and will have pizza tonight. Just in case you thought I could work full-time, have five kids in sports this fall, and cook gourmet meals every night ;)
Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!
I can't wait to see swim meet #2 picture with the cap and jammers! You'll get it figured out yet!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for the end of the ice cream season! That is a huge accomplishment and I hope you're so proud of yourselves!
Swim meet #2 tomorrow! And thank you for the support!
DeleteCongrats on your Swimmer, he's still the cutest even if he isn't wearing jammers.
ReplyDeleteI've never had fried scallops! I love them broiled/grilled, so surely I'd like them fried too.
The horrors happening on our planet right now; thankful to see good stories happening where people are safe.
You are not living until you've had fried scallops. I don't want to brag, but I kinda live in Scallop Country so you need to make a trip up North!
DeleteCongratulations to Alexander on his first swim meet and to you for surviving! They are long but if you are there with friends and lots of snacks, it can be a lot of fun. How I miss those days.... sigh....
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how horrible the mom felt with her daughter over there! The whole country has been in my prayers.
I thought of you and your swim meet days, you deserve a lot of credit!
DeleteOh my, I'm so glad that the Franciscan students are safe! Certainly not something you ever imagine dealing with (on top of the normal "my child is traveling out of the country" worries).
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Alexander!! Your experience at the swim meet reminded me of Greta's first dance dress rehearsal at the ripe old age of 3. Knowing that their two songs were about 3 minutes long and that the preschool age danced at the beginning of the program, I figured we would be there 20 minutes tops (because surely they wouldn't make us stay til the end of the rehearsal while all the older kids rehearsed). Silly me didn't realize that they split the numbers into the beginning of the first act and then the beginning of the second act (with each act having about 15 dance numbers). The other moms had shown up with literal duffel bags full of snacks, toys, extra clothes, etc, knowing they'd be camped out in the auditorium for hours. I learned ;) (and now, thank goodness, the girls have moved on to other activities!!)
Lots of snacks is pretty much the answer to any kind of unknown situation :)
DeleteMy 8 yr old LOVES LOVES LOVES his speedos for meets - he's dying for a pink one.
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