swim team wrap up, a little late

Way back at the end of June, we had the divisionals meet for swim team. This was at a super crazy time for me, and I just hope I haven't forgotten too much of it since I'm writing this so late.

We had just had Lexie's birthday party the night before, and Kevin had left early in the morning for a week in Arkansas for high adventure with the young men. Lucky I had my sister-in-law and brother in town and they watched the two little kids, so I just had Halli and Peyton at the meet.

That was very much appreciated!

It was an indoor meet, in a much bigger pool (slightly longer, and more lanes) than the kids were used to swimming in.

Halli was only competing in three events, the backstroke, freestyle and butterfly. She was super close to qualifying for all-stars in the freestyle and this was her last chance.

And I'm proud to say that she pulled it off, and qualified. She was SO excited when she got out of the pool and they told her her time. She wanted more than anything to call her dad and tell him good news, and she got to do just that.

I had a hard time this year trying to find that fine line between pushing your kids, and letting them just have fun with it. Halli was having fun, and she's still young, but I knew she could be doing better than she was. I just didn't want her to be disappointed and not enjoy any of it because she didn't make a certain time, but I also want her to have a sense of accomplishment from doing this.

I know when she's older it'll be easier to really push her, but at only 7 years old, that's a tough call. Ultimately though, no matter what you do, it's really up to them.

She's become an old pro with swim team, we have SO much fun with this sport and are so incredibly happy that we were able to start when we did! It requires alot of time, but is it so very worth it all!

Peyton did awesome for her first year of swim team. She swam the whole length of the pool without holding onto the lane line, and that's huge for a 4 year old. We're so proud that she did it, and can't wait to see her improve in the coming years.

Divisionals was a little tough for her. Another girl false-started, and it freaked her out, so she was crying when she started the race, and I think the whole thing just intimidated her. But she finished, and looked cute doing it!

I didn't take any pictures of the all-stars meet, Kevin was still out of town, and I had all four kids with me this time, so the last thing I needed was a huge ol' camera to lug around too. Halli was able to do her freestyle as well as one of the relays. She did great, and it was in the same pool as divisionals so that helped a little bit too. We loved being able to watch her this year, and can't wait to do it all again next year!