Swim Team Reminiscing; and a Sneak Peek at the Mudroom

Swim team is over for the summer. Thankfully - we get to relax for two whole weeks before the daily grind of school and homework begins. This was Evie's 3rd summer on swim team, and William's first. He worked really super hard before try-outs, and this year they accepted him. He was so excited!

For Evie's first year, I packed a bag every day & while she swam, the little kids and I either hung out in the shady snack bar area with coloring books & such, or we'd walk over to the adjacent park to play. Last summer was so stinking hot, most days we'd sit in the shade and try to keep cool. It was either that, or Jason wanted me to tote him back and forth, because he was 'bored' - ie, too hot to walk. Must be nice to have someone to carry you around, no?

This summer I managed to drop Evie and William off by 9am, and then some days I actually managed to stay at the pool and wait. A good bit of the time, I dropped them off while still in my pjs, and came back for them when practice was almost over. Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer where everyone sleeps in and no one has to be anywhere at any specific time? Back in June the kids went right from the last day of school BAM into swim team practice for six weeks. I can't belive it's pretty much the middle of August, summer break has gone by way too fast (and has also seemed include an eternity of whining).

My kids aren't the fastest swimmers. Evie does a great job, but only swims during the summer, so it's tough to compete with kids who swim year-round. Also, this year she went from 25 meters to 50 meters, so there were some turns during meets that got her disqualified. William? He gets his swimming ability from me, I think, and doesn't seem to come by it naturally. After years of group lessons and several private lessons, by the end of this summer he'd really improved SO MUCH! Now if we could get him to quit looking at the other kids while racing, actually use his whole arm during the backstroke and remember to not turn over from his back until his arm touches the wall, we'd be in business! 

I'm hoping this winter and spring they'll both decide to swim at the nearby indoor pool. I could live without spending another cold Saturday morning at the soccer field, as neither of them really have a passion for it. They're competitive and like to win, but don't want to spend any time working on skills. Why bother spending time doing something unless you love it? Life is too short for that.

The first couple Saturday swim meets I didn't really think much about anything for the kids to do while they waited in between events; finally it dawned on me that a deck of cards and some drawing paper & crayons might be a good idea. After that, Evie spent what little time she wasn't scoping out the concession stand drawing landscapes & making up mystical creatures. William got the cards out, and magically all these little girls came by to play with him.

I was getting a kick out of this little blonde girl getting all cozy with William while playing crazy 8's. She kept using him as an armrest & snuggling up to him. We ran into her at the pool a couple of times after that, and depending on who else was around, she either came over to play with William, or ditched him like a hot brick for one of her girlfriends. Girls are funny like that :)

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Back in the winter, as part of our bathroom remodel, Matt gave up his closet off the bathroom so we could have a stacking washer and dryer in there. That room still has some work to do (I have SO many doors to paint once the weather cools off & kids are in school for a few hours!) but the former laundry room, now given the glamorous name of Mud Room, is getting put together to get ready for school to start. The former narrow passageway with 2 doors opening into it -laundry room, shown here:

....no longer houses a washing machine and dryer, and the cabinets are gone! 2 weekends ago Matt pulled up the old vinyl floor and put down new ceramic tile; this past weekend the wall cabinets came down and up went bead board and new base boards. I've spent some time the last few days filling nail holes, priming bare wood, and prepping to paint the room, hopefully tomorrow! Shouldn't take long, as it's basically a 7x5 foot room. I have a picture in my head of how it will turn out, and can't wait to take pictures of the finished product to share :)

Looking forward to seeing my celery walls in my bright new room...