Victory

Chloe had a great showing on kid kart at the last club race on Sunday. She had a new competitor and came in 1st. She also came in 2nd in the Micro class race.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Olympics

In preparation for the Olympic games in London, the kids and I made a run to our favorite British foods grocer in NYC. We purchased bangers, sausage rolls, and Scotch eggs. If course, the kids also got some yummy British chocolate!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Catch Up

Could it be true?!! Could swimming and diving be coming to an end?!! Two more meets and its complete for the summer.  Chloe was selected to compete in the county championships for diving and is an alternate for the county championships for butterfly and will be competiting in two weeks in an all-county championship for relay with three other girls.

Chloe holding her 1st place ribbon after a diving meet.

Chloe getting ready to swim relay during a swim meet. Her relay team is FAST!

We haven't had any club races, but that didn't stop us from visiting the track. Matt took Oliver on a slow drive in the parking lot (only a few feet) on his kart.

 Matt and I got an evening away to watch Chelsea FC play at Yankee Stadium.

While the flowering plants are starting to die back from the heat and water restrictions...

 the garden is coming into season.

Chloe and I were excited to see that our cantaloupes are growing.

 I put Chloe to work with a small paint brush to "fertilize" the cantaloupe and put on more fruit.

 But we quickly realized we had some helpers....

Our Week in a Nutshell

Seven swim practices and five dive practices every morning to midday PLUS three swim meets and three dive meets in the evening. Matt and I are attending a Chelsea soccer game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. I think cooking is completely out of the picture this week.

Competition

Chloe raced in micro and kid kart races today. It was hot and the humidity was off the charts. As if the heat wasn't enough to wipe her out, the kids ran more laps than usual in preparation for the Rotax Grand Nationals.

Chloe did well in her first race in a micro. She will only improve with experience.

Chloe (in pink) during the micro race. Chloe managed to pass this racer.

Matt pushing Chloe into the pits at the end of her first micro race.

Chloe had a competitor in the kid karts, a boy she had beaten twice before, but this time he beat her. Looks like there is some competition in kid karts.

Our friends came up with their two sons to watch and have the boys drive. Unfortunately, the skies opened up and rain fell down. The podium awards had to be moved indoors.

Chloe with her 2nd place kid kart trophy.

1st Swim Meet of the Summer

The first swim meet of the summer was tonight. I was able to snap some shots of Chloe swimming the backstroke and the breaststroke. She came in 1st in backstroke and 2nd in breaststroke.

Swimming the backstroke.



Waiting to swim the breaststroke. After watching the Olympic trials, Chloe has taken to wearing her goggles underneath her swim cap. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't start doubling up the swim cap like the Olympians.

Getting a "pep talk" from a coach--I don't think she looks too inspired.

Getting ready to start.

In the lead.

In action.

1st Diving Meet

Chloe had her first diving competition tonight against her former diving coach's summer team. Fourteen children competed in the 8 and under category and Chloe won first place!!



Getting IT Together

Besides drowning in beach towels and swimsuits and other loads of laundry, I managed to get some organization to our summer. 

The menu board--the main purpose is to help me plan out meals for the week. However, since the vinyl menu board has been up, the kids ask me more times than before it was up "what's for dinner?".

The chore charts. I thought these were cute and even Oliver can follow along.

The magnietic chores are very simple and easy to understand.

I could write several blog posts on potty training Oliver. We've resorted to a sticker potty chart. Three stickers (i.e. three potties on the toilet in a day) gets Oliver the iPad to play with. You can see from the photo, which was taken on Tuesday, that its a SLOW start with our headstrong and strong-willed child.

Swim Lessons

Oliver began swim lessons today. Its a small swim school that meets at the pool of a local hotel. The swim school only allows 2 children per teacher so its perfect for Oliver.

Oliver blowing bubbles.

Waiting patiently to be allowed in the water.

Oliver was so excited but didn't enjoy waiting on the side of the pool to swim. It didn't take long for his swim teacher to surmise that Oliver has NO fear of water.

When Oliver would sit on the side of the pool, he would bounce up and down and shout, "I want to swim!". Lately he has been telling me that he wants to "swim like sissy" which is Oliver speak for he wants to swim in the big pool and as well as Chloe.

Thirty minutes was too short for Oliver. At the end of the class he was upset it was over and he wanted to be able to keep swimming. I hope he continues to love to swim and enjoys lessons.

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July on the lake in Pennsylvania with friends. It was a fun day--nearly seven hours on the boat. We're all sporting a nice tan now.

Oliver jumping into the water with Bryan in the lake.

Chloe takes a leap from the boat.

 After we returned from the lake, Oliver headed to bed and Chloe and I went to the fireworks show down the street.

Chloe enjoys cotton candy.

The fireworks.

Ten Days into Summer Break

School has been out for 10 days. We are still trying to get into the groove of summer. We lept right out of school and straight into swim and diving team. Chloe practices for 2 hours every morning and twice a week she has an early morning practice for one hour with her regular swim team. Oliver started a summer camp three days a week at his pre-school. Most weekends have been spent karting and we've managed to squeeze in a little boating too.

Its taken 10 days to feel like I am now managing our summer schedule. For the last few weeks though, things have been hectic. Hopefully, we're in our summer rythym.

The kids spent an afternoon washing Matt's car and escaping the summer heat.

Oliver liked rinsing off the car--even after it had been rinsed and dried already.

Of course, it turned into a water fight.

The kids assisted me in making dinner for an elderly man from church who is recovering from surgery.

Chloe is getting ready to move up kart classes so we went to scope out the competition at a northeast karting event.

Oliver loves to participate in the "diving" competition off the boat now. He's a wild man on the boat and has no fear of water. We had to show him where to jump from (the sides of the boat only) and only when mom or dad is in the water and tells him it is ok. We will probably have to repeat that lesson several more times before it sticks.

Chloe hanging out in the tube.

Oliver hanging out on the boat. He likes to sit on the sundeck like a big person and chill (as much as Oliver can chill). You can see a scrape on his chin from where he was sliding in the kiddie pool on Friday and slid a little too low.

Chloe "chilling" in the boat and having a snack.

The kids hanging out in the tube. Chloe didn't want to tube alone so we used the tube as a lounger.