Rounding out Long Course Swimming Season

We got home from St. Louis on July 7th about 9:30 pm.  We had spent the day getting updates about our sweet little friend, Tinsley~2 1/2.  Tinsley and her family go to church with us and she was at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital having open heart surgery as we were finishing up our vacation.  Thru the modern wonders of today we were getting text message updates often.  Everytime my phone made the text ding, everyone would stop and look at me.....is it an update?  Then I would read aloud. We were able to send out thoughts and best wishes and celebrations back to her parents via text.  Even though we were not right there by their side in the waiting room, they knew that as we finished our vacation they were foremost on our hearts and minds! 

Tinsley on Saturday~ this would be two days

after open heart surgery! 

On Friday morning, the girls got up at 5am and we drove to Brentwood for an early morning (6am) practice.  While the girls were at practice, I went up to the hospital to give Kent and Jill a quick hug!  Back to pick girls up and head home to pack for Baylor Swim Meet in Chattanooga.  We had been home less than 13 hours but it was time for us to go back to Brentwood and picked up Nicole and deliver dinner for the Pips (thanks to Honey), then turned our sites south. 

We knew we had to go to bed early because the they had an early warm on Saturday.  It was VERY hard to get the three girls to go to bed....words spoken~really mom it is still day light outside!  My experience spending a lot of my summers growing up with Chattanooga summer nights~ sometimes it was 9:30 before dark set in.  They did not believe me but I told them, well this is just one fact that you will have to take my word for.  And guess what it will be dark when we leave for the pool~I promise! 

I make it to the pool with all three girls

even got them feed. 

Noriko meets us at the pool as the meet is starting.  So we are ready for a little girl time!  The girls swim well and drop time or as Kent tells me~ they do a PR (personal record).  Mary Lane and Nicole swim the 100 breast and it just did not look right at the turns, it is a PR but they both think they could have done better.  So we decide to time trial it.  Mary Lane goes to talk to her coach and asked if she could time trial it and scratch the 400 free.  Coach Dennis says he is ok with that.  Well NOT THAT EASY!  Because Mary Lane had done a positive check in the 400 free had already been deck seeded (swim lingo), she could not scratch it.  So she goes back and tells Coach Dennis this and he says ok let's let this work for us.  Use it as your warm up.  By this time Katherine has swam her 200 fly!  She was ahead of everyone (they combined the boys with the girls because there were only 6 13-14 year olds swimming it) at the 125 meter mark.  Then the boys pull up and the all go into the wall (150meter) about at the same time.  The boys come out of the turn first and Katherine sees their splash and it gets her off a bit.  Usually the last 50 for her is like whitewater.  She decides to time trail it but she is going to wait till Sunday and scratch the 400 IM with Coach's permission.  So it has become the meet of time trail drama! 

NOW it is time for Mary Lane to swim her 400 free "warm-up" and boy did she listen to Dennis....she was so graceful!  But funny thing was she only added 30 seconds to her PR and she finished about 15 meters after the second to last girl.  Those of us in the stands looked at each other and one of the other parents said, I shutter to think what would have happened if she had tried.  So now it was time for the time trial for Nicole and Mary Lane, and they both come out with a PR.  So day one of Baylor is in the books and it is TIME FOR LUNCH!!!!  We find a "secret" place that we decide to not tell Mike.  We will go back but if Mike is with us~he will have to be blindfolded! HA!!! 

Mary Lane, Nicole, and Katherine with the beautiful river behind them!

 After lunch, we walk around a little bit but good golly it is HOT!  So we decide to go back to the room to rest and relax and boy can those girls RELAX!

No to the untrained eye that looks like a corner piled with stuff!

 BUT NO~ it is Katherine with a pile of pillows and blankets

watching a movie!

 Mary Lane watching a movie on the bed.

Nicole enjoying a movie on the other bed!

At this moment, I am SO grateful for the mifi and that everyone has an ipad!!!!  After a little driving around, getting ice cream, and some dinner....it was time for bedtime before it got dark and they did not CARE!

Sunday, warm ups and day two of Baylor!  Day two was another day of PR's but the excitement was Katherine's 200 fly~ she had to do it by herself.....and HOLY COW~ everyone was on their feet yelling and screaming!  It was very exciting!  She dropped almost 6 seconds!  So it was time to decide if we were going to Knoxville for Southeasterns for 3 events.  We finally decided that we would drive up on Thursday, the 14th for Katherine to swim the mile and spend the weekend at the Lake!!! 

So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was a practice as usual.  Thursday found us heading to Knoxville.  Honey went with us!  It was a quick drive for a long wait! 

My sweet girl watching and waiting!

 Both my sweet girls waiting!

 Honey and Mary Lane chilling in the stands waiting some more!

FINALLY~ she is on block ready to go!  20 minutes later

it is over and done and now we wait for her to warm down and drive home!

After a good dinner, we make the not so quick drive back home!  And now to pack for the lake!!  It has been known as that summer of Plan B, and this Plan B is very welcomed!!!