Last Swim Meet

Kaelyn and Ian had one last swim meet on Saturday morning. We had to be there by 7:15 AM. Boy, was I happy that Nate surprised us and came home from High Adventure a night earlier than planned. He actually scared me to death when I suddenly heard the garage door open on Friday night and a stranger (the other boy scout leader he was with) walked into the garage. Anyway, on Wednesday I had taken the kids into the backyard for a swim in our pool. I tried to help K & I polish their swimming skills a little, but quickly realized why I leave the teaching to others. They think I don't know anything. Or maybe they're tired of my attempts to teach them. Anyway, I really wanted Kaelyn to dive off the block for her last meet and she's been too scared to do it. I encouraged her to try and our pool is kind of on a slope, so it has some steps around it and different heights to jump from. I challenged her to dive off the highest part. She took it step by step, getting over her fear of height little by little. I made her visualize the chocolate ice cream she'd be getting for dessert if she did it and Annika and I cheered her on. This is what happened:

Ice Cream is a wonderful thing if it motivates your child. I was so proud of her! I told Kaelyn she could have a McDonald's ice cream cone after her meet if she would dive off the block then. She didn't even need the extra motivation. She's just not afraid anymore. I love to watch her swim, her strokes look really nice. She isn't all that fast, but I'm so glad she's learned how to swim well. I bribed Ian with ice cream as well. He had to make it to the other side during the meet without stopping. The funny thing was, that the meet was at a different pool this time. It was ridiculous how small it was. It only had 5 lanes and the length was 20 yards instead of the standard 25 meters. Also, it was a diving pool, so there was no way the kids could touch the bottom. Ian thought it was easy to swim across.

Kaelyn got a first place ribbon for the first time. She was first in her backstroke heat and swam with a beautiful stroke. Awesome job, Kaelyn! Ian did great too and swam without grabbing on to the lane rope! He still has to learn how to keep his feet up during back stroke. You can't swim very fast if you're kicking with your body hanging vertically in the water:)

Kaelyn also swam in a freestyle relay and did a nice job. The meet lasted 3 1/2 hours and it was H O T! I think it was more than 100 degrees and I was glad we were able to sit in the shade or we would probably have ended up with a heat stroke.