Go Gators!

No, I have not completely lost my mind and switched allegiance to the dark side. I'm just rooting on Jenna's swim team. That's correct folks, the mermaid made the swim team. Unfortunately, the mascot is an alligator. It's almost impossible for my vocal cords to utter the sound and my lips to form the words.

Today starts our second week of summer vacation and last week we spent every day at the swim club. By last Wednesday, I felt like we had been there a month. We have had a fantastic time while we are there, but the getting ready to go and the leaving the pool times have been horrendous. When we get home, the girls and I just crash.

With three kids at different ages and different stages of swimming skills our day is pretty crazy. Here is our new schedule:

7:00 ~ Get up and get ready. This entails me making the coffee, the breakfast, packing the bags (cooler with lunch and swimsuit/towel/pull-up & swim diaper bag) and taking a shower. Yes, I am a weirdo who takes a shower before I go swimming.

9:30 ~ Swim team practice. While Jenna practices for the hour, I set up camp around the baby pool. Luckily we are able to leave our chairs, noodles, kick boards and pool toys at the club.

10:30 ~ Kellen's swim lesson.

11:00 ~ Jenna's swim lesson.

11:45 ~ Riley's swim lesson. That I have to take with her. Oooh fun.

12:30 ~ Lunch.

1:00 ~ Swim for fun.

2:00 ~ Home and showers for everyone. Yes, I take another shower after swimming. I just can't help it.

After the showers, Riley takes a nap, the girls watch mindless tv and I crash. Actually, I have a new obsession. Endless Ocean on the Wii. I am determined to get to the end of the ocean, but don't know what I'll do with myself when its over. Sigh. The quandaries of life.

By Wednesday, when it felt like we had been there for a month, I was talking as if we had been. At night, when Kyle would get home and I would recount our day for him, I noticed I was saying things like, "We always have lunch..." or "We never use bathroom number 1" or "I always sit ...". He had to remind me that it had only been three days.

On Saturday, Jenna had her first swim meet. For those of you who have never had the privilege of attending a swim meet, let me fill you in on the joy that you have been missing. My sisters swam for our high school, so I knew what we were in for. And Kyle was a serious swimmer his entire life so he was thrilled. Basically, you wait and wait and wait ~ and then, yay, you watch your swimmer race in a minute long race! ~ and then you wait and wait and wait ~ yay, another race! ~ and then you wait and wait and wait. And on it goes.

Jenna swam in one event. The 6 and under 25 yard freestyle. And believe me, the little ones take the "freestyle" literally. The coach told them to just jump and go and whatever they did to try NOT to hold on to the wall or the rope. When they blew the buzzer, Jenna jumped off the block and swam like crazy. And then halfway down the pool she faded. She had to stop for a breath (mind you - they are not swimming freestyle and breathing the correct way - its more like dog-paddling and stopping every so often for a breath) and she just hung on to the rope for what seemed like minutes. Then she swam, then she stopped, then she swam, then she stopped. You get the picture. By the end both teams were cheering her on and when she finally reached the end everyone clapped and cheered for her. Adorable. Even though she IS a mermaid, she has technically only been swimming for this one week. Kyle has been taking the girls to the pool on weekends for about a month and "coaching" her himself, but as for actually getting in the pool and swimming its been just this one week of practice and lessons. Yes, for the last few years the girls have taken swim lessons for two weeks each summer, and Jenna has always been the fearless one, but this is the first time she has done more than float on her back, blow bubbles and jump in the pool. I was so proud that she tried and that she had the guts to do it.

So...Go Gators!