Backflips and Summer League

There is so much that I could say about the Patrick's swim season.  He's amazing and I am proud sum it up the best.
He's been in the pool Monday through Friday for two hours for swimming and water polo. 

All of his hard work paid off at the Summer Rec League Championships today.

That's a second place finish from the outside lane.  He improved every week and in total took 9 seconds off of his time from the beginning of the season.   He also made it to the finals in breaststroke.  Next year he will dominate in butterfly.

On top of all that he loved playing water polo this summer.  He even scored a whole bunch of goals. 

And read several books and made lots of new friends in between.   One swim season down, many many more to go.

Especially considering that his little sister is half fish.  Last week she taught herself how to do a backflip.  This video is on the big step but she taught herself how to do one off the wall too. She's swimming and she's ready to compete.

On a whim

We don't have a lot of opportunities to pack up the SUV and head to the beach on a whim.  Ok, I can't remember the last time we did that.... But yesterday we did it.  I punched Little Miss Planner Mom in the face and we hit the road with no real plans.  It was fabulous.  I think we are on Day 17 of triple digit heat so we headed to Monterey and highs of 63.

The kids were so excited to go to the aquarium.  Patrick set his alarm for 5:00 am. We spent the whole morning at the aquarium and explored Monterey in the afternoon. 

Taking Lauren to the beach for the first time was the highlight of my day.  Kevin made sure that we went back to the beach we took Patrick to for his first trip.  The boys had fun chasing waves (Keith was soaked) and Lauren loved the sand and water (of course).  I was staying dry and enjoying my family.  At least until Kevin wanted to take a picture of me with the kids. 

 REAL LIFE.  An armful of discarded sweatshirts, Lauren by the armpit, dragging the boys in, and boom I'm soaked.  This is my motherhood.  Wet and wild.  I love it.

Since the planner mom was knocked out, we were short towels and blankets and other things I would usually bring.  We did have extra clothes for most people but sizing was an issue and Keith will forever remember wearing my clothes home.  good times/great memories.

What just happened?

In January (for reals, I'm a planner) when I started making plans for the summer I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I usually consider a few activities and follow through on one or two.  This time I was on the "sign us up" program.  Gone are the lazy, quiet summer days, my kids have something going on all the time. If I complain, remind me that I signed up for it and I love 97% of it.  The hardest part for me is adjusting to a new schedule that accommodates our activities and the rest of life (cleaning, teaching, Junior League, blogging, pedicures, Scrabble, working out, and plenty of tv viewing).

We are now in Week 4 of summer break and here's what has been happening.  {If you follow me on Instagram, sorry you've seen most of this}

1. Swimming
The little kids have had swim lessons most days with Aunt Katy.  Lauren is my little fish.  She will swim until she is exhausted.  Keith is coming into his own in the pool. 

Patrick is doing swim and water polo every evening.  He made his first goal last week at the polo scrimmage and shaved 3 seconds off of his freestyle time.  He's even talking about joining swim club this year.

2. Wrestling
Keith wrestles Monday and Tuesday evenings and he loves it most days.   The other day in the middle of practice Keith told his coach, "You used to coach my Uncle Ben!" He was on cloud 9 after that declaration.  His coach calls him Mr. Fox, which he loves.

3. Vacation Bible School
Our church had VBS the second week of summer and we were all there.  Lauren in the nursery, me volunteering, the boys attending.  It was an amazing week and the program was really fun for the kids.  I was so glad that we were there.

4. Teaching
I started teaching a new online class just as summer started.  My class was one of the first classes on the new online platform and it has been a lot of work.  This is the first week that my students seem more comfortable and I get to focus more of learning.  I'm taking a break at the end of July and I'm looking forward to it.

5. Working
Kevin changed shifts and finished at the academy when summer started.  We celebrated the Fresno Policy Academy Class #129 graduation last Friday.  Kevin was once again a superstar recruit training officer.  Under his mentorship, there were 5 cadets who graduated in uniform (they were hired by an agency) and another handful are in the process.  We are rolling with graves for now, who knows what next week will bring.

6. Weekends what?
The new shift and the academy mean that Kevin has weekends off for the first time in a very long time.  We've enjoyed our weekend time together. 

7. This girl

She is really good at waiting for her brothers.  Lauren goes back to My Gym for July and maybe August before her promised gymnastics classes start.  This picture in 10 pm one night.  I love-hate the sporadic naps.  Evenings can be a little touch and go without a nap but she doesn't go to sleep at night when she has a nap.  I think I prefer the non-nap day.  She crashes at 7:30 when we get home from swimming and it is perfection.

Only 47 more days of summer and we have lots of fun planned!