6th meet

Dylan's sixth swim meet of the season was yesterday morning.  His team is having an amazing season .. out of 6 meets this year they've only lost one.  We have some amazing swimmers on the team.  I'm so proud of Dylan for practicing so hard and doing his best to beat his own times every meet.  Yesterday, he had his best ever 25 Meter Backstroke.  He'll have another ribbon to add to his collection from the season so far!  Only a few more meets..we'll be sad when its over.  I'm going to try and find a year round swim team for him to join, its really been a huge hit for him.

Did I mention the Saturday meets are super early?  We rose at 5:30 am yesterday morning to get there for warm ups!  Bless his heart.

5

Dear Logan,

Five years ago, you became the fourth member of our family, and made it complete. 

You didn't know right at that time, but you'd have someone to look up to for your whole life.  And Dylan was amazed by you.  In fact, he was the very first person to ever make you laugh.  We always know that wherever Dylan is, chances are you're right beside him.  You all have secrets and games no one else knows.  When you have something important to say, you tell Dylan first.

Your cousins Josh and Maya were born three weeks before you, and it was exciting to think of all of you growing up together through the years.

You've grown so much in these five years.  We've watched you crawl, then walk, play and laugh, go to preschool.  And in a few weeks, you'll begin kindergarten. 

Your life so far has been one adventure after another.  Sometimes challenging, but never, ever dull.  We've been trying our best to help you in the areas you need help, and we've been loving you with every ounce of our beings.  You've taught us about patience, courage, endurance and unconditional love.

Your favorite things to do are ride your bike, play Mario Super Sluggers on the Wii, jump on the trampoline, play with your friends, play baseball, eat treats (especially candy), taekwondo, and play Legos.  You love Cinammon Toast Crunch cereal, Sour Patch Kids, strawberries, pizza, and chocolate ice cream. You're super busy and somedays its all I can do just to keep up with you. 

I'm so excited for all the adventures we'll have in the coming years together.  I love you so very much, and there isn't a thing I wouldn't do to keep you safe.  I'm so proud of you, buddy.  It is the priviledge of a lifetime to watch you and your brother grow up, and to share all of this together.

 I love you always, and forever, and always.  To the moon and back.  Happy Birthday.  May all your dreams come true.

Love, Mom

You can read here about turning 4, 3, and 2.

boatin', crabbin', swimmin'

Just returning from a lovely weekend visit with my Dad and Stepmom, at their rural waterfront home on the SE shore of Virginia.  They moved in late last summer, but their big boat didn't arrive until later in the fall.  So this summer is the first time we've really been able to get some serious boat time in on the Chesapeake Bay.  And what a perfect weather weekend for it!

Both days we were there were spent entirely on the boat, navigating to little islands in the Bay where we set up a canopy, picnicked, fished, swam, dug, explored and watched the boys innertube behind the boat.



My beach boys

crabs from their crab pots

Logan tubes

Sunday night we had a little birthday celebration for Logan with my Dad and Bobbie, who can't make it up for his party next weekend.

Grandma let Logan decorate the cake himself.

bathroom, finito

Last week, the bathroom remodel job came to completion with the addition of our frameless shower glass doors and walls. 

You can find all the other photos of the bathroom remodel from start to finish and day by day here, and here.

Disgusting deteriorating, crumbling old shower full of mildew and old tile:

Beautiful new spa-worthy shower. 

 

 
My only complaint about the new shower?  Its so nice in there you don't want to get out.  I dread seeing our upcoming water bills.
 
Again, a huge thank you to our contractor Craig who understood what we wanted and made it happen with all of his skills, talent and expertise!

Safety Camp

Our county offers a summer week of safety camp through the Sheriff's office.  Its free, and only offered to rising kindergarteners and rising 1st graders.  The kids learn how to safely ride their bikes and be aware of their surroundings, what to do when strangers approach (Logan was excited to tell me he's allowed to bite a stranger if anyone ever tried to take him so STRANGERS BEWARE!), fire and gun safety, and other very important topics. 

The camp is taught by firefighters, police officers and other public safety people.  Its FANTASTIC.  Dylan went to the same camp when he was in kindergarten and he still remembers everything they taught him.  They talk about serious issues but  make it fun, age appropriate and impactful.

Today, Logan got to take his bike to camp and learn how his helmet should fit, how he can ride his bike safely, and how to keep his bike in top shape.  He also spent time learning what to do if there is ever a fire, and how to escape.

The camp is drop-off and I don't really get to see him in action there (until the little graduation ceremony this Friday). But today I arrived a few minutes early for pick up and got to see him crawl out of a 'burning' trailer to safety. 

Tomorrow he's very excited, he'll get to ride a battery operated ATV that he says "looks like a police motorcycle but doesn't  have sirens..isn't that funny Mom?".

swimming and more swimming

Swim team continues to be a huge hit for Dylan, and we're enjoying lots of friend time at the pool.  His team is undefeated three meets into the season, and he won four ribbons at his Saturday meet.  Go Lightning!  Go Dylan!

Here is his whole team.  He's second row from the back, fourth from the right.  And our swim team is small comparied to most in the area!

Meet #2

Dylan's second swim meet was last night, what fun!  It was the first meet at our home pool and we won again!   Dylan competed in his first ever 100 meter relay and won a ribbon for 4th place.  He also competed in 25 meter freestyle and backstroke, shaving time off both of those strokes since the meet this past Saturday.  Go Dylan!

He absolutely loves the swim team.  Its a big commitment with practice everyday and two meets a week, but to see the absolute joy on Dylan's face makes it more than worth it.   We've found his 'thing', this is just clicking for him more than any team sport. He loves the other kids, the coaches are absolutely amazing, and his swimming is getting better all the time.  I love the camaraderie of all the kids cheering for each other, and that its an individual sport, for the good of the whole team.  There are around 130 kids on the team, and everyone is so nice. Seriously, the spirit of the team is so welcoming and positive.  Its just a nice group to be around and spend a lot of our summer with.

He loves it so much that he says he wants to still do a swim team over the winter, so I'll have to look into that for him.

Here he is, getting ready to swim his 25 meter freestyle:

So proud!

Backstroke!

We swam against another local team from Leesburg, and our wonderful friends are on that team so the boys got to see their good friends B and K.