Week 34 of 52 in 2018

Everett was back from his cross country trip and the boys were happy to have him as a guest at our pool.  They've been able to have friends throughout the summer as guests and it's been helpful keeping the pool exciting and fun.  And, their guests are getting to meet their pool family.

Michael had been talking with the boys about depositing money into the bank.  After a humongous production of finding their money and arriving to the bank minutes before 12 p.m. with small change, we found out that the bank wasn't even open on Saturday.  We'll save that for another day.  We ended up at Coin Star and the boys helped dad deposit change and watch it turn into almost $100.

Week 33 of 52 in 2018

Jackson:  The tryouts for Coppermine were this weekend so Jackson was getting in as much practice time as possible (even after an almost all day soccer camp with the Blast). He was good with the indoor practice but it was quite hot on the turf.

Connor: He's not the fastest but he works hard.  Yet another fun week with the Blast for our defender.

Week 32 of 52 in 2018

Jackson:  Before leaving for vacation, Jackson was adamant that he didn't want to try out for the Kelly Post Travel team despite knowing Coach Wendell and some other friends that were going to be trying to be trying out.  We received an invite from Coppermine and Jackson was ALL OVER IT. He really loved Coach Jordan and consider that the only time he had a coach that provided him with good instruction. So, it was time to get in some lax practice.  The Snyder's were away so we were able to take advantage of their goal and bounce back.  Our baseball player even helped out and Michael learned out how to catch.

Connor:  We had reduced priced tickets and realized that the summer was almost over so we had to find a way to get to Hershey Park (separate post). Mom and the boys were off for what ended up being an all day experience.  This sweet boy showed off his love for thrill rides.  He even would ride the rides by himself when Jackson couldn't handle the heights. Giving the o.k. to launch.

After getting minimal sleep, we were up very early the next morning for teeth cleanings. I can't tell you how proud I am of this boy who is usually very uneasy about getting X rays.   It may have been the adrenaline from the prior day but he was smiling in the chair waiting for his X rays that he knew was going to happen. Who is this kid??

Week 31 of 52 in 2018

More snaps from vacation. Lots of time at the pool and some really delicious meals out.

Once we arrived home from vacation, we were off to the pool because we hadn't been in 7 whole days and that was a lot.  But, this trip was super important as we were there to celebrate our favorite 5 year old's birthday - sweet Veronica's. Happy Birthday V.

Week 30 of 52 in 2018

Vacation looks good on these two.  So happy to be back at the Peninsula.

Week 29 of 52 in 2018

It was the final week of the season for swim team!!


After some serious driving difficulties (worst map directions and instructions from the swim team leadership EVER)... we finally figured out how to get to Stoneleigh pool and were treated to an hour delay because of lightning.  Thank goodness we stayed and waited out the rain delay as Jackson finished 1st in both of his heats. SUPER proud of our little Seahorse.

I asked and was obliged by the 7-8 boys for a group pic at the last home meet.

Last pic of the swim team season came after the Awards Ceremony.  We are so proud of our boys who initially had to be coerced into participating and then wanted to go to EVERY meet of the season.  We missed only one so I'd say we had a great record.  The boys were most definitely not the fastest but improved their strokes as the season went on and we couldn't be happier for them.

Week 28 of 52 in 2018

It was another week of swim meets.  The boys are meeting more people on the swim team and starting to hang out with them when they aren't focused on practice and lining up for the meets.

During his meet, we apparently had the table to be at with snacks and games.  Jackson was probably off with his buddy, Connor, searching for aliens while Connor taught some of the swim team friends how to play sleeping queens.

Michael was away for some reason and we were invited over to Aydenn A's house to watch the last game of the World Cup. The boys had fun watching France win and catch up with their friends. We couldn't stay long as we had tickets for the Wizard of Oz at Mercy's theater.

Week 27 of 52 in 2018

We were off to Philadelphia (see separate post) for some fun around the July 4th holiday.

A couple months ago, we realized that the Orioles were playing the Phillies in early July and worked our trip around those games. 

So, we saw a baseball game...

We learned a ton about history and saw some famous sights...

And, we had some delicious food that was not just cheesesteaks.

Week 26 of 52 in 2018

When we signed the boys up for swim team, we tried to make realistic expectations of our schedules.  The "initial" plan was that they'd attend a meet at Campus, the one at Wiltondale because they have a bunch of friends swimming and they'd go to one other that was away.  Well, the boys got in the pool and Coach Ian worked some magic and they were pressing me immediately to ensure that they were declared eligible for the meet.   And, so it starts!!! 

Michael's chest wasn't feeling so great on Friday afternoon and decided the best thing to do would be to go to the hospital as his father had a heart attach.  He's within minutes of Mercy and walked himself down to the ER. After picking up some last minute details for the boys' 1/2 birthday party (see separate post), we met up with him in the ER before they moved him to a room for an overnight stay.  He had to wait for a stress test that he eventually passed the next day.  It's never calm around here.

Week 25 of 52 in 2018

School is out and it was time for Swim Team practice.  So, we spent a lot of time at the pool.

Besides swimming, we also made it to the library to get books for the Summer Reading program.  We picked out a bunch of the Beverly Cleary books. I'm excited for the boys to learn all about Henry and Ramona.