Such a good sport

When Daniel was home from spring break, the kids asked him to do something for them….they wanted him to come and be their "show and tell" for their co-op. I was pretty sure he would have no trouble at all being their trophy, but the kicker was that our co-op starts at 9:15. As any person whose been to college remembers, spring break mornings are precious…for sleep. Especially when the college student has to rise and swim lots of yards before he even starts classes. BUT Daniel isn't just any college student. He is one who loves his little brother and sister, and thus, he agreed to go and make his little sibs' day!

One of these things is not like the others…

I'm the facilitator for our openings, so I was the one to interview Abbey and Elijah. When I asked what their brother did in Wilmington, Elijah answered, "Swim."

Although swimming does control a large part of his life, I do hope he is doing a little bit more than swimming in college.

One thing I know he excels at is being a wonderful big brother!

CAA Conference Championship

The end of February always signifies Championship meet time for swimming. This year Daniel's conference championship meet was held in Richmond, Va.

The day before we were to leave, all of the weather forecasters were forecasting a "snowpocalypse". John and I decided to leave a day early and beat the impending "blizzard". While our town didn't get but about one-half of what was forecast, it still would have been difficult to get to the meet with the way our city takes forever to clear roads of snow.

You would expect the kids to be bummed about missing a good snow, but they really seemed just as content to be able to swim in the hotel pool.

We did have fun outside of the average 8 hours a day we spent at the pool. We visited the Confederate White House, in downtown Richmond.

They would not allow photography inside the house, but it was extremely interesting. We learned many new facts about the lives of Jefferson Davis and his family. Even the little ones were engrossed and learned some new things.

Of course, the real reason we were there to see and encourage this young man as he pursued his dream.

Seventh one, parading in for 100 breast finals.(definitely has his "game face" on)

Abbey and Elijah were so proud of their  "sister hawk" and "brother hawk" shirts.

As I mentioned, we spent the good part of each of the 4 days at the pool. All of that time sitting and waiting can take a toll on a person…

To pass the time we took lots of "selfies"

and group shots..

Showing off their cheering paraphernalia.

Of course, this guy was the reason we sat for hours…

 They adore their big brother!

His dad and I think he's pretty special

As for the meet, it was a bit disappointing all around. Daniel, while getting personal best times, didn't place as high as he had expected he would. The biggest bummer was that UNCW did not win the meet. The 13 year streak was broken! That hurt all around…the swimmers, the parents and the coaches all felt the sting of defeat. But, in any sport losing is just as much a part as winning. It's just that winning is sooo much more fun. Losing is character building, though. If you never lose, you could have a hard time really appreciating the win. 

At this writing, Daniel and his teammates are already back in the pool, dreaming of reclaiming what was lost this year. When that time comes, Daniel's mini-cheering section will be there in force!

More snow

This winter was really, really cold. It's been a long time since we've had any appreciable  snow, and this year, we had three! (We missed the last because we were at Daniel's swim meet). Needless to say the kids were ecstatic over the white stuff.

If Elijah can't be playing with a wheeled something or another, he's not happy.

Abbey constructed a teeny weeny snow man. The snow was so fine, it wouldn't pack very well.

People in other parts of the country were inundated with snow as records were broken. They can have all that. I loved the two little snows we got. It was pretty, the kids had a blast,  and it was just enough to slow the world down a little!