Zara synchro championship

This is Zara's third year doing  synchronized swimming and she just keeps getting better every year!  She was on Mesa High's team this year because Kino filled up too fast.  Even though it was inconvenient taking her to Mesa high every day it was worth it to see her keep improving and doing something she enjoys.

She got 2nd place in duos and trios two weeks ago and 2nd place again in team last night.  She was a leader with this group and worked hard to help her group do their best even when some of her team was in and out of town.  She never missed a practice and it showed.

Their synchro coach is in the blue.

They had a cool Pirates of the Caribbean song mix up that was well done and choreography to with it.

Watch the video here!  Zara is on the left in the front at the start.  

They packed a lot into their routine and even though it wasn't executed perfectly they had some fun moments and the choreography went well with the music, which is important to me.  We hope to get Zara signed up at Kino again next summer.  I wish Avery kept going with it.  They're both so good at moving their bodies confidently.  Lots of natural talent.

life lately

Last Saturday Andrew and I took Zara and Rupert to the batting cages for the first time.  We did slow pitch softball and of all the dozen coins I used only one.  They kept asking to go again so it was a success.  Beatrix even tried a little with Andrew's help part of of the time but she's not quire ready.

That morning Elliot returned from a week in Hawaii!  He went on a school trip and even got to spend time with the Manning family at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Lucky guy.  It's so beautiful there.  He went with the jazz band but Heritage also had scholars form orchestra, piano, dance, and choir.

On the first day of spring Dairy Queen offers free cones.  This was our first time doing this.  It wasn't even that busy.  We did go right before dinner though. :)

On Saturday we also swam at the Brown's pool.  They are our next door neighbor who let us swim whenever.  We like to swim over spring break for the first time each year.  Yes the water was cold but Rupert and Zara earned a candy bar by jumping off the diving board and getting their whole body wet.  Bea came with us and went in half way which is impressive too.

I got Zara this swimsuit at the end of swum season last year so she is excited to finally be putting it to use.  Last year we were in CA over spring break.  We went to the beach, and yes it was cold, and we went to Disneyland and CA Adventure.  It was the best!  But it was nice keeping things more simple this year.
 

a summer Thursday

My oldest and youngest looking cozy.  We all adore Beatrix.  This is at Mesa High, our favorite free lunch spot.  We like to go right after Rupert's swim lesson and Zara's swim team at Kino.

Love these goofballs. :)

 Thursdays are our swim meet days.  This week Mesa High hosted.  The kids get there at 5:15 and the meet starts at 6:00.  Zara is in the 5-6 age group, we have no swimmers in the middle age group, and Elliot and Avery are in the 9-10 age group.  This week's swim stroke was breast stroke.  If the swimmers don't swim correctly they are disqualified and get a participation ribbon instead of 1-8 place ribbon.  None of our kids disqualified, although Zara wasn't consistent.  We are so proud of how hard they push themselves and do their best!

 Third place!

Sixth place!

 They each got two ribbons.  One for their individual race, and one for relay.  They have to qualify for relay earlier in the week to compete and Elliot was the only one that qualified this week, so we were surprised when Zara and Avery ended up doing relay as well!  Elliot has qualified all four meets, this was Avery's third relay to swim, and Zara's first!  How is Elliot a foot taller than Avery!  They are a year closer in age than the girls are. :)  

Beatrix was so content the first half of the meet before crying.  She did so good, just a little hungry.

 To celebrate finishing all 4 swim meets (freestyle, back stroke, butterfly and breast stroke) we took them to Zoyo's, a favorite frozen yogurt place of ours.  Some of the kids got more candy toppings than frozen yogurt but oh well.

This was my best one yet!  Chocolate and vanilla swirl with oreo and fudge, and blackberry frozen yogurt with fresh raspberries.  Amazing!!

swimming and date nights

 I'm playing catch up a bit from the last couple days.  Thursday was Avery's last day of swim for the first set of lessons.  Next week she'll likely have a new swim coach and they also recommended her to bump up to level 5.  She'll miss Miss Sabrina.

Zara keeps insisting she doesn't want to take swim lessons but she's already such a great swimmer!

 Rupert does this thing I call lip snuggling.  He's not a thumb or finger sucker like my other kids but when he's tired he does purse his lips and do a sucking motion on his pillow or, preferably, by neck.  It's kinda my favorite thing.  We have a special bond.

I took the kids to get Thrifty's ice cream cones for the first time.  Overall we decided we prefer Zoyos because frozen yogurt is better for you than ice cream and mostly they love picking their own toppings but they all loved Thrifty's.  Their flavors starting with Avery are rainbow sherbet, circus animal, chocolate. chip cookie dough, and cotton candy.

Yesterday we swam at Sara's parents for the first time this year!  I think this is our 3rd or 4th summer of memories here.

Tonight Andrew and I went on a double date with our good friends Brooke and Dan McKay.  We looked around Floor and Decor so they could make some tiling decisions.  They're in the process of remodeling both bathrooms, doing the kitchen  and installing flooring in their whole house this year.  This is something we hope to do in a couple years so it's nice learning from them.  Afterwards we had dinner at Fudruckers, an old favorite burger place of ours.  So good!

After dinner we watched Wonder Woman since Andrew and I have heard good reviews and we liked it!  I loved the beginning part that sets up the movie and think the premise is really creative.  I guess it's a lot like the comic but I went into this movie fresh, never having seen the original movie or even seeing the trailers so it was all a surprise.  It is now midnight and I'm biking and swimming in the morning so I better get some sleep!

POOL DAY!

 We pretty much plan to pool hop all summer so this is the norm.  Today we chose Mesa High pool and took cousins!  Josie and Jason came as well as Mo Childers (Elliot's primary friend and the son of a good friend of mine) and his brother Danny joined us at the end.  It might have just been me with 8 kids but it went remarkably well.

^ ^ Avery and Zara's matching swimsuits from here. ^ ^

 ^ ^ headed to the lazy river ^ ^

 ^ ^ The line-up, before Danny joined us. ^ ^

^ ^ Rupert is always my little buddy.  I'm really enjoying my pedicure too! ^ ^

Half the time all Rupert wanted to do was snuggle under the towel and eat snacks.  I don't blame him! :)  Since we had a swim pass last summer I plan to bring more friends with us this summer so the kids don't get bored so fast.  

So far we have filled our summer with swim lessons, swim team, and swim pass, as well as Elliot's summer band, and friend time.  Something I want to make more time for is reading.  This is something we have started but not been consistent yet.  The library summer reading program should help.  I also want to us our pogo pass at least once a week and maybe do a craft or science project once a week. Am I being to ambitious? :)  We'll see!

a chocolate fast

 One of my absolute favorite podcasts is Happier with Gretchen Rubin.  She is a happiness expert and studies human behavior.  One thing I learned from her are there are two kinds of people; Moderators and Obstainers.  Moderators can have one bite of a nice chocolate bar every day and be satisfied.  Obstainers can't stop at one bite and has to eat it all or not have any to begin with.  Read more about it here.  Andrew and I are obtainers with most things.  This brought about Andrew's chocolate fast.  For a whole year he went without chocolate, because it was easier than trying to modify his intake.  He also went without potato chips and soda for the remaining of that year and today was the first day he could have chocolate again!  Of course his first bite was of his beloved candy bar, a Mars bar.  This one was saved since our family visited from England last summer.  I'm so proud of Andrew for sticking to his goal!

Elliot started swim team today!  Kino ended up being full so we went with Carson.  He's also training with a younger age category since his age is full, but he'll be able to compete with his age.  This is all new to us so I look forward to seeing what swim team is all about.  Elliot was especially excited after we purchased the team uniform jammers and competition goggles.  I can't wait to see how he grows through this experience as a swimmer and a person.