swimming

These are pics from a couple of weeks ago at our team's time trials. I couldn't take any pics this past Saturday at our first meet because I lost our camera the day before. Plus, my dSLR is broken.

We learned so much from the time trials. First of all, if it's too cold (the weather has been unseasonably cold here in Sacramento as of late), skip the early morning warm-up. Elise was so cold afterwards, she cried and kept saying she wanted to go home. Apparently, Coach Daddy did a good job pumping her up because she came in first place in the backstroke for the entire 6 and unders!

Secondly, we need to tighten the kids' goggles before a race. After Elise dived into the pool for her freestyle event, her goggles slipped up her face and she stopped a few times during the race, trying to adjust them.

This boy is an awesome swimmer. This is his first year on the swim team so he's competing against kids who have been doing this for years. He has natural ability, both Giao and I can see it. We know he's just going to get faster and faster as he builds up his strength. Plus, he has these huge, flat, size 5 feet that are like flippers! Whenever his feet hurt from too much walking or standing and he wishes his feet weren't so flat, we tell him they're good for swimming!

Swim team is a huge commitment. There's practices everyday during the summer, the meets are an all-day event on Saturdays, and the parents have to work at the meets. We're going to have to wake up REALLY early for some of the upcoming meets because they're far away. That is going to suck. But, it's worth it. It is so fun watching my kids and all the other kids swim. I am so impressed by all of them. I can't even get across the pool without stopping (several times) to catch my breath. I've always wanted to learn how to do the butterfly. Giao tried to teach me once. It was not pretty. And, here are my kids doing endless laps of all the strokes during their practices.

monopoly

I was introduced to the wonderful game of Monopoly by a neighbor of ours when I was probably 7 or 8 years old and now I'm playing with my kids. We've played many times before, with me helping Elise a lot, but now she can read the cards and even count out her money.

Langston, Elise, and I had a good game going from the previous day. Elise had the most properties and houses on her monopoly but very little cash. Langston had a good amount of cash and owned a few properties. After resuming our game yesterday, we discovered that Elise "magically" had a big-ass stack of $500 bills in her pile that wasn't there when we stopped the other day. Langston and I just looked at each other and started cracking up. Elise sat there and tried her best not to look guilty.

We decided to start a new game. But, I had a toothache and a migraine and was in no mood to play. So, I told Langston to go do his homework. Twenty minutes later I hear "Mom, I'm done with my homework! We can play now!" To which I replied "I never said we were going to play Monopoly." I honestly don't remember telling him that I would play with him after he was done with his homework. I think I was secretly hoping he would forget about it. I told him "no" and that I had a headache. He was so disappointed. Then, I remembered back to when I was kid and how I would want to play Monopoly so bad that I would beg and plead with my sister to play with me. And, she would say no. And, I would be crushed. I knew Langston was feeling the same way. So, we set up the game and started over :)