Tan line there? Don't care

We went to the beach Saturday, and Eric got a swim cap tan line.  He rocks that tan line!  I love that he just doesn't care.  He gets embarrassed about some things, but most of the time, he just grins about whatever it is and moves on.  You go, Eric!  You rock that swim cap tan line!

New team/1st Meet of the season

We made a decision over the summer to switch swim teams.  It was a difficult decision as Eric and I both had friends at our old team.  However, they were having administration issues that trickled down to the coaches and greatly affected the swimmers.  It wasn't a fun environment for Eric anymore, so we decided to start this season with the Stingrays.  We are about 5 weeks in to the new season, and we are very pleased with our decision.  Eric had his first meet on Saturday, and he ROCKED it!!!

My favorite swimmer.  A wee bit nervous for his first meet with his new team.  He really wanted to do well.  

New team.  New cap.  

This was one of my favorite pictures.  I volunteered second half (a requirement with our new team), so I was down by the pool.  I loved looking up and seeing my fellas right after one of Eric's races.  

My swimmer - getting in the zone.  

Jumping up and down to warm up.  

On the block. 

And he's off!!!!

(loved my job by the pool)

He did so great!  He swam 5 events -  100 yards each (4 lengths of pool).

Freestyle - He took 3.92 seconds off his time coming in at 1:10.46.  

Backstroke - He took 4.21 seconds off his time coming in at 1:16.44.  

Breaststroke - He took 4.93 off his time coming in at 1:42.94.  This one made me super happy.  This particular best time was 30 months old!!!  I was itching for that one to come down.  

Butterfly - He got his first ever time in this event with 1:34.95.  I actually cried after this one.  So proud of him for completing the 100 fly for the first time!!

Individual Medley - He took 2.34 seconds off of his best USA Swimming time (he actually had a few seconds less at district this summer) coming in at 1:28.38.  

Then they got to play in the adjoining water park.  

So proud of this kiddo and all of his hard work.  Looking forward to some adventures with the Stingrays.  

Love this kid

I love this face.  I love those brown eyes, those freckles, that smile.  This boy - this fantastic, amazing boy  - is so loved.  So treasured.  

Solar Eclipse

We had plans to be in the path of totality today, however those did not work out.  We had a nice relaxed day at home watching some butterflies emerge and running outside to check on the eclipse.  

The eclipse glasses (thank you, Poppy) did not quite get flush to Eric's face (with his regular glasses) the way we would like, and too much sun would get in.  So we made a viewing tool to help block the sun.  :) 

And of course the kiddo is reading between viewings.  Why wouldn't he be? 

Sweet gi-mo

Our little Gizmo (lovingly called Gi-mo often) was exhausted after his 10 days at the boarder.  He loves going there, but crashes when he gets home.  All day playing with other dogs wears you out!

These are pictures of our sweet baby when we got back from Arkansas.   So sleepy!

Mud Island

On our way to Arkansas, we made a stop in Memphis to walk around Mud Island.  Robert had some work to do, and Eric and I knew we could walk around catching some Pokemon.  Robert and I never went there when we lived in Memphis.  I wasn't even sure what to expect.  But we had a great time (very hot, but great).

When your mom is a science teacher...

You get to observe lots of fun life cycles.

First observation of the semester - caterpillars.

Swimming like crazy

Summer is our busy swim season.  The boy swims both morning and night.  People are always surprised that we have so little free time in the summer.  It's because the boy loves his water, and we love the boy, so we take the boy to the water.

This video is at the 13 and up practice for state.  Eric is the second from the top.  I know none of you ever get to see him swim.  I can't post whole videos on here most of the time, but here is a practice dive.

Our summer swim season was not our favorite.  Three of our 5 meets got rained out.  But, we spent a couple of hours sitting in the rain each time before it was called.  So, yucky and disappointing.  However, Eric got the coaches' award for his age division, so we were proud of him. 

At district, his relay teams both came in second.   He will go to state in both of those.   He got 6th in his other two events.  However, I am most proud of his 100 Individual Medley.  Even though he got 6th and did not qualify for state in it, he swam it faster than he ever has before - 1:25.26.  So proud of him!

Bible Bee

I am so proud of this fella.  He has chosen to do an 8 week study for the National Bible Bee this summer.  Just for fun.  He is so fantastically amazing!  I love his heart for the Lord.  His diligence.  His desire to learn.  He is such a great kid!

He has been working and studying and is in the 5th week already.  I could not be more proud of him.  

Silly school time

I love that our school still includes play.  And I love that I have a rockin' awesome boy that isn't afraid to play.  We had a game to demonstrate how cougars and deer affect each other in the wild.  A cougar card had to land on 3 deer to survive.  If so, you could add another cougar to represent another generation.  And you doubled the deer that survived each time as well.  This boy was determined to have the cougars overtake the deer population.  :)

I know that's a lot of pictures.  But it's these days that I will always cherish.  These simple days at home.  With my boy.  Doing our school thing.  Man I love these days!

Nashville

We went to Nashville the last weekend in January for a late Christmas celebration.  We were there on Chinese New Year, so we went to a celebration that was being held near Vanderbilt.

It was fun, but they were not prepared for the crowds that had come, so we did not stay long.

We watched a folk tale about a stone cutter done with puppets.  Here was the mountain puppet.  

We stood in line to have Eric's name written in Chinese calligraphy.  

A lady was coming through the line writing your name on a piece of paper.  

I was impressed, though, when we finally made it to the man, he read the name off as Eric.  I had wondered if the symbols were just a representation, or if they truly were his name.  

It was fun.  I wish we could have stayed for the rest of the program.  However there was no stage, and Eric could not see anything over all the standing people (I couldn't either).  

Our small crew waiting on everyone else to arrive. 

Christmas gifts to take to Dexter's.  

This kid is used to working out every night.  He struggles some if he misses several days in a row.  So we found the fitness center at the hotel to be very useful.  Love that boy!!!!

You will have to look really hard, buy it snowed for an hour or two while we were there.  Heavy, big flakes.  

Tried to get a picture, but you really can't see anything except a little in our hair.  

School fun

I love when school provides fun activities to do along with the learning.  This week Eric had to make a shepherd's head piece and a Hebrew meal (of sorts.  Let's face it, we live in modern America, not quite gonna happen.)

We all had fun eating on the floor with our hands.  Although I did include one spoon for scooping out the yogurt initially.  I really didn't want to all be scooping with our hands out of it.  Yuck!

Gizmo was a little confused about us eating on the floor.  

He got a couple of pieces of cheese for his patience at staying off the blanket.  Cheese is his favorite.