Summer Splash

We missed the first month of swim team with our trips to North Carolina, South Carolina, and California.

But OH BOY, did OM make up for lost time.

They CRUSHED the summer swim team. 

I mean, these kids are beautiful little fish.

O went from jumping into the water to diving in a month.

 (Remember how scary diving is??)

And both of them went from leisurely swimming down the lane to smoking down the lane, real, real, quick…

We were so impressed with how much endurance and strength they gained and how hard they worked to get there.

This was the first meet. 

See Maya down there talking to Woody?

He was the timer. I was too chicken to time.

Didn't want to mess up.

But it is WARM up here in the stands...

So the next week I agreed to time.

And was A LOT cooler and a lot happier.

Check out my perspective…much better!

This was O before his leg of the relay. He did awesome.

This was another meet, outdoors. 

There are only two outdoor pools in the district, the one OM practiced at and this one.

A very small one with only four lanes.

Either way, being outside in summer is awesome.

Every swim meet except the last one was just two swim teams competing against each other (really, the emphasis is on the kids improving their own times meet after meet and not as much on how they are competing against others).

Last Friday was the last swim practice.

Practice ended a little early so that the kids could design and create a poster to hang at the District Meet where all 7 pools in the district competed against each other.

This is Maya and her friend adding their names to the poster...

There is O back there, on the left.

At the District Meet…our poster was the longest. :)

Some of the Tigers. 

OM and their buddies…their coaches took Sharpies and wrote their Events, Heats, and Lanes on their arms.

I wasn't thrilled with that but that's how these things work...

Ahem. :)

Maya was the top seed in each of her three categories (free style, backstroke and breast stroke). 

She crushed all her races and is the District champ for her three events for girls 6 and under. (Yes she turned 7 two weeks ago but they keep the age you registered at.)

:)

Owen getting ready to crush the backstroke.

He didn't place first but he was 2nd or 3rd for his three events too. 

It was harder to tell with his because there were more kids in his heats and this isn't the Olympics so there was no scoreboard.

Next post I'll have O's event here, the backstroke…

Coming soon. :)

An important lesson...

Last month I got some rough news…

See, we've been trying to buy a house for the past year and a half with no luck. 

We've come close a couple of times but for various reasons things fell through.

Then, in late July we found a house that would be just perfect for us.

And by perfect I mean it was built in the 50's, is covered in Bald Eagle wallpaper, has only one bathroom, and a natural reserve as the backyard (there are A LOT of trees and invasive Ivy).

But, it's also got a decent floor plan, has only had one owner since it was built, is half an acre pretty close-in to Portland, and is oozing with charm. 

And it has a breezeway. 

I love the breezeway. 

So, so much.

But, we were outbid. 

By investors. 

They offered cash (not sure how much, but more than us), no home inspection and no home appraisal.

Even though I wrote a compelling letter (with a pretty awesome photo of the family and the most awesomest dog ever, Star)  urging them to pick us, they didn't.

I took it pretty hard.

I try not to cry in front of OM but I just couldn't help it.

I was super duper bummed.

So, I was sitting on the couch, crying. 

Hard. 

And O was like I'm so sorry Mom. 

He felt bad for me. 

Poor kid.

Maya was sitting next to me on the couch, ever the optimist...

She said, "Mom, it's not the house that matters, it's the people."

Sigh.

That's right sweet thing, we have each other. 

 Sweet, sweet girl.

So, life moves on and we keep taking it day by day.

And, then I get a call from our broker.

The first offer fell through, they want to know if we're still interested??

Oh my word.

Umm…yes!

So, now we're doing a home inspection next week.

It's still not a done deal but this is how I'm feeling now…

We'll keep you posted on the house situation but either way…

it's not the house, it's the people…

And I've got some pretty incredible people.

Crescent City, CA

After OM spent a week in Willits while we stay-cationed at home, we drove down to Crescent City, CA to pick them up.

Ginger hooked us up and we got to stay at the excellent Curly Redwood Lodge, right on Hwy 101. 

If you find yourself in Crescent City, stay here! It is awesome.

The Pacific Ocean was a hair colder than the Atlantic Ocean but for OM, an ocean is an ocean and they gleefully played in the chilly water.

Thanks for the fun times Crescent City!

More party pics...

Maya kept it simple with her birthday party too. 

A park and her family.

Yay! 

A giant stuffed dog (named Star Jr.)!! :)

O kept getting presents too! Mashers for him. 

Silly spray ready.

We spent (especially Woody) a good chunk of time cleaning up all of that silly spray. 

Not our best idea ever. 

They had fun though.

At the end of the day she had her dog and her dad. :)

Maya's 7th Birthday

Welcome back to the old blog. :)

I had problems here but I had more problems @ Wordpress. 

So, let's try it again back where we started. 

Starting with Maya Ginger's 7th birthday…

Owen decided to forgo a friend birthday party and invite one friend to Wings and Waves. It worked best to go on Maya's bday so Maya invited one friend too.

First we stopped @ Sesame Donuts to fill their bellies with sugar...

Then we piled in the rental and drove out to McMinnville. The girls watched Mary Poppins and the boys played Minecraft.

We were front of the line to get in. 

And yes, on July 24th the weather required hoodies. (Don't feel bad for me though, it's 90-something today!) 

We had a blast…

then we went home for Costco Pizza (the only pizza my picky girl likes) and chocolate pudding pie, extra chocolatey for my chocoholic.