Payton the Piranha!

This summer, Payton is swimming for the Centennial Piranhas.  She has tried soccer several times and it just doesn't seem to be her cup of tea, so we looked into swim team as a fun summer sport where she could get a lot of exercise and hang out with some of her buddies from school.  Plus, there was always that chance that Payton might just be the next Missy Franklin (says her uber competitive mother :))

I really had no idea what we were getting in to when I signed Payton up.  Let's just say that swim team is a big commitment.  In addition to the registration fee, every parent is required to put down a $275.00 deposit check that will get ripped up once 24 "points" worth of volunteering are earned.  So, since Wes is on baseball duty with Brady (that post to come soon), I am stuck earning all 24 points on my own.  That means that I am not just relaxing in a lawn chair watching my daughter swim.  I am timing races, running race cards between the timers and the score keepers, judging kids strokes and turns during races, and actually disqualifying kids who don't do it correctly!  Yikes!  I had to attend a three hour course on what to look for during each different stroke...back, breast, butterfly, and freestyle.  They actually told me that I wouldn't be a real stroke and turn judge until I dq'd my own kid.  Thankfully, I have not had to dq Payton just yet. :)

And that's just me :)  Payton has practice three mornings a week for one hour, and for that entire hour, they are swimming.  100 free style, 100 on the kick board, 100 back stroke, etc.  On Saturday mornings, we have meets.  So, we are out the door by 6:30 AM to get to wherever the meet is that day.  Payton is warming up by 7:00 AM, writing her five races on her arm in permanent marker, and making sure she is paying attention to which races are lining up, which heat she is in, etc.  Whew, I'm tired just typing all of this :)

But, Payton has done a really great job.  She complains a little about getting out of bed, but once we're there, everything is fine.  She works hard at practice and just keeps swimming.  She isn't the fastest, but she isn't the slowest and she never quits.  She has embraced learning new things like the butterfly stroke (I have no idea how to do it!), flip turns, and jumping off the starting blocks.  Kids seem to be a lot better about being thrown into new things than adults.  She just kind of figures it out.

Here is Payton and her best buddy Grace from school.  They are getting ready to the swim the 4 x 50 Medley Relay.  Payton swam the freestyle and Grace swam the breast stroke.

Parents are allowed to sign up their own kids for three events each, and then the coaches place them into relays.  With her input, I signed Payton up for the 100 Freestyle, 100 Breast, and 200 Freestyle.  She's not quite confident in the backstroke or butterfly just yet.  Then she has also been part of the 200 Freestyle Relay and the 200 Medley Relay.

Swimmers take your mark...

Go!

The 100 meter breast stroke.

During her first meet, Payton got dq'd because she did a flip turn during the breast stroke instead of touching the wall with two hands simultaneously.  (After being a stroke and turn judge this past weekend, I learned that about 1/3 of all kids in the breast stroke get dq'd every race...it seems very simple, but there are tons of rules about what your hands can do, how to kick, how to touch the wall, etc.)  So, we quickly learned the rules for each stroke and this past meet, she did each race correctly and didn't get dq'd at all!

Getting ready for the 200 Freestyle.  Doesn't she look awesome!?

Here is a video of one of the relays during her first meet.  She is doing the second leg of the medley relay, the breast stroke.  I took the video on my phone, so vimeo is making it look huge.  But, once you press play, it should play in the right direction.  Oh well.

I am very proud of Payton and her work on swim team.  We have set a goal that she improves her times each week.  Way to go P!

Happy 9th Birthday Payton Ruth!

I'm quite certain that Miss P started planning her 9th birthday party the day after she turned 8.  She had several ideas...roller skating, sleepovers, snorkeling at the aquarium, you name it, she wanted to do it.  As April turned in to May, Payton had her heart set on the idea of a party in our own backyard, a "jungle adventure" if you will.  She had thrown out the idea of costumes, games, etc.  I wasn't exactly sure I was prepared to go and buy monkey costumes for every guest, so we put our heads together and settled on a backyard trampoline/water adventure.  And it was perfect.  Payton invited 9 of her buddies and they all came dressed ready to get soaked.  Wes and I planned some simple games...water relays, water balloon pop, shaving cream fights, etc...and the kids loved it.  After an hour or two of games, we had some pizza, opened some presents, and ate some flower sprinkle cake (this year's cake request).  Even though I was up baking cake at 10:30 the night before the party, it turned out really great.  The kids had a blast just giggling, getting soaked, and hanging out together.  Payton, what a great idea!

On Sunday after the "friend" party, we headed over to Grandma Inge's pool with the family.  It was a wonderful sunny day, so the uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents all had a great time swimming, then we celebrated Payton with some more pizza, cake, and presents.  What a lucky little momma to get two birthday parties in one week!

Payton Ruth, my little/getting bigger every day girl, I love you so incredibly much.  Your creativity, persistance, and passion are what make you who you are.  You make me giggle with things like your smiling camel face and your funny stories.  You push me to my limits with your desperate need for friends and daily play dates. You are kind and caring with your special cards, great snuggles, and big hugs.  You have made my life an adventure, daughter dear, and I'm lucky to be your mom.  Happy Birthday P Diddy.

A Family Outing Somewhere Other Than Home Depot...

I'm not sure why, but our family runs A LOT of errands.  Home Depot, Sams Club, Kohls, Target, you name the store, we probably shop there for some reason or another.  This spring, we were very busy working on our yard.  (It looks really good at the moment, so I'll have to take some pics and do a before and after post of the outside sometime soon!)  Anyways, it was getting to the point where the employees at HD started addressing our children by name, so a few weeks back, we decided we needed to run zero errands and do something fun as a family.  We decided on the zoo.

I've said this before, but Wes and the kids love playing the "I See It First!" game at every animal exhibit.  Here they were looking for some snakes.

We saw all kinds of wild and exotic animals like this cape buffalo...

 ...but the highlight of the day was seeing all of the mother geese with their goslings wandering freely through the zoo.

 Lando and his daddy checking out the mountain goats.

 There they are!

 Payton's favorite?  Monkeys of course!

 One smiling monkey at the bottom of the picture, and one real monkey posing in the background.

 It's next to impossible to get all three kids smiling for a pic at the same time, so this one is pretty good!

 I can't even remember what this weird thing is called.

 Brady Boy.

 Checking out the bears.

 The great apes seemed to very tired on this particular day, but thankfully, they chose to rest right in front of the glass.  I'm not sure Landon could have gotten any closer.  They were checking each other out.

 They look so much like humans...

 Payton was afraid to cross the bridge where this peacock was standing.

 We told the kids we could pay a few dollars extra and go into the lorakeet adventure so they could feed the birds nectar by hand.  They loved it!

 Payton and her buddy Grace do this funny face called the smiling camel.  Here she is doing the "smiling camel" in front of the camels.  She is so goofy!

 And no zoo day is complete without some ice cream cones!

We ended up buying a zoo membership because it seemed most cost effective, so we are looking forward to more great zoo days this summer.

See Ya Later Kindergarten!

Brady Michael is officially a kindergarten graduate!  A few weeks ago, Brady's class did a little program/ceremony, and all of the families were invited to attend.

Marching in to the graduation song.  Brady is so funny.  He's kind of shy, but once he is with his classmates, he's absolutely embarrassed by his parents, thus the no-look photo!

Each student memorized several lines for the program.  Brady had one very long line and one shorter one.  You can hear him speak in the video below, although the mic was broken during his first long part.  He did a great job, and practiced at home to be ready.

Mrs. Dissler's Kindergarten Class.  Brady actually has Mrs. Dissler again next year.  He loves routine and takes a while to adjust to new things, so I think having the same teacher again will be perfect!

Cheering for recess!

Afterwards, we headed back to Brady's classroom for some refreshments.  Some of Brady's best work was on display.  He wrote an awesome book about the planets!

Mrs. Dissler and Brady.

Here are some clips from the show.  Brady spoke his two lines, and he was also chosen to demonstrate his jump roping skills, I was very impressed!  The last part of the clip is a really cool song that the class played using colored tubes.

Brady Michael, good work in kindergarten buddy.  It took you a little while to adjust to the routine, which was understandable considering you went from two half days a week to all day every day.  But once you figured it all out, you had an amazing year.  You made good friends like Andrew, Jake, and Danny.  You soared off the charts in reading, writing, and math.  Your teachers told me you looked out for other students like Jack, and that makes us so very proud of you.  We love you so much, and now let's enjoy summer!

Something I've Never Done Before (Sort Of)...

Well, school and volleyball camp are officially over, so I can finally start to catch up on the last month or two of blogging, yeah!  During April, I took a weekend class in order to renew my teaching license.  As part of our homework, we were challenged to do something we had never done before.  I decided to choose playing a round of golf.  I have actually golfed before, but it's been about twelve years, so I figured that was long enough to call it new again.  Plus, it would give Wes and I a chance to do something together.

So, a few weeks back, Nate, Trish, Wes, and I all headed over to the executive course in Highlands Ranch. It was a beautiful spring evening.

Trish teeing off.  Trish is an excellent golfer and goes quite often with Nate.

Nate and Wes golf as much as they can together.

They were very patient with me taking phone pics (I had to document all of our fun!) and helping me with club choice, my swing, and all things golf.

I'm a lefty in hockey and golf, so I had to rent some clubs!  

Wes and I are not very photogenic, so we didn't think this self-portrait was too bad.

I had a great time.  It still took me eight or nine or ten strokes to get the ball in each hole, but it was really fun spending time with Wes doing something he really enjoys.  I think if I went a few more times, I could really actually get into golf.  But, we really can't afford for both of us to like the sport! :)  Thanks Nate and Trish, for tagging along with us.  And thanks, Tammy, for watching all FIVE of our kiddos for a few hours.  

Let's do it again some time!

FORE!