Regionals

Now I should be writing about Austen's team advancing to regionals but his season ended so early that the summer hasn't been about him at all. For once, the girls took center stage when it came to softball (Hailey) or swim (Peyton and Hailey). 

Peyton finally concluded her travel club season of swim with a regional time in the 100M breaststroke. She was really hoping for a regional time in 50M breaststroke too but that got cut short by some bad weather and she never had the opportunity to swim that stroke again due to conflicts. She was bummed since she had less than a second to cut off. But she was happy she made it to regionals and got a special cap and then her name on the back of a sweatshirt as one of the swimmers on her team who had a regional time. 

She was hoping for more times too but those will come. To think how much she's improved in just one short year is remarkable. In fact, her first competitive swim season was just one year ago and this year she pulls off a regional time. 

We are so proud of her every time she gets in the water. In fact, I still get teary watching her swim. I equate that to it being an individual sport. It's a similar feeling I had watching and cheering Austen on when he ran cross country. Watching your kid do something they love and that they excel in and doing it all by themselves is truly a gift that they give us. And, it makes us so proud. Congrats P!

Waiting for her race with her arms crossed

My Happy Place

Can you guess where that is? 

Tom's is in Michigan and mine is in Indiana. At IU to be exact so you know how excited I was to take Austen back to IU soccer camp last week after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. 

We drove in Thursday morning and I could feel myself smiling as we got close to campus. The rolling hills and the trees - oh how beautiful they are especially in the fall. For a moment, I was transported back in time to almost 30 years ago.

I dropped Austen (and his friend) off at check in and drove to the designated lot to park, all the while with a huge grin on my face as I meandered through part of campus and back to the dorm to help them move in. Now that he's older, Austen needed little to no help with check in and also move in. He wanted to eat lunch before training though so I took him to our usual spot - Nick's so he could get some fuel before practice. I could tell Austen was excited to be there and what made it even more exciting was that half of his team was there too. These boys were going to have so much fun and Austen couldn't wait to get back to his room. I didn't want to hold him up too long because I had my own tour to do and I had to drive back home that day too. So I dropped him off and then went and found a parking spot so I could take my time and meander through campus. Oh how I love walking over the wooden bridges with the streams gurgling below. The paths that took you through the forest of campus and around the limestone buildings where I attended classes so long ago brought everything right back to mind like it was just yesterday. I walked and smiled and said to myself probably multiple times, "God, I love this place." 

I especially like sharing it with my family and people who have never been. I want them to love it as much as I do. The beauty is in the campus, yes, but to me it's that and so much more. It's a story, my story of coming of age and lifelong friendships. It's a part of me and I'm a part of it and I feel that as I walk around campus that day. Then it's time to leave but I know I will be back with the rest of my family on Saturday so we can watch Austen's early games on Sunday morning. 

Usually, I stay for the weekend and I wander all around campus and venture a bit further to some of my old stomping grounds and meet up with friends. But my friend had COVID and Peyton had a swim meet on Saturday morning so I went home but was glad that I could look forward to returning on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon we made it back to campus. It was hot but I wanted to walk. We ventured through campus and probably walked 6 miles in the 90 degree heat. I hadn't heard from Austen since I dropped him off but I knew he was having so much fun. The girls complained about the walk and the heat but Peyton was happy to buy an IU sweatshirt and that kept her going. We ate dinner on Kirkwood at Farm Bloomington and cooled off with their freshly squeezed lemonade. It was late by the end of dinner so the girls retired to the room while Tom and I went across the street to meet some parents for a drink. We had to get up early the next morning for games so it wasn't too late of a night.

The early morning brought storms so I wasn't sure we were going to get any games in but they did. It poured at one point then they cleared the fields due to lightning but Austen's team got in both their games just the presentation of their evaluations and any team pics were snuffed out due to the weather. Austen was miffed because he said there should have been an MVP trophy too and thinks that they didn't hand that out due to things getting cut short. He was vying for that trophy and thinks he should have for sure gotten it too. Who knows, maybe they just handed it out to the top teams but Austen said he was happy with his play. He got a solid evaluation from his coach (a former IU player and a head coach at age 26) with some very constructive things to work on. He noted that Austen was a standout player in their division which consisted of about 8 teams. 

Austen had so much fun with his teammates at IU camp. In fact, they all had a lot of fun. He can't wait to go back again next year. But he was sore and exhausted. He said he played so much in the heat over the course of the three days that he was just spent. I think he slept most of the way home and most of Monday too. He can't wait for high school season to begin now and is so focused on this year being an important year for him to get even better in soccer. He has a dream. It's not mine. But I hope it comes true. 

Austen and me at the Sample Gates

Galaxy teammates and now IU teammates but ones who first met when they were teammates in 5th grade at Northwestern Soccer Camp 

Then there's your first teammate(and IU roommate) from travel soccer in the 1st grade through 7th grade

The girls and me at The Graduate hotel

Swim Club Championships

Last Saturday, we spent all day working (well, Tom and Austen golfed in between) our country club's championship swim meet. Both Peyton and Hailey were swimming for our club team and that meant drop off at 7am and volunteering (me and sometimes Tom) or swimming (girls) until almost 4pm. It was a long day in the sun but the meet went well and both the girls did pretty well in their events too. 

Hailey ready to swim!

Let's start with Peyton. There were some great swimmers in her age group - meaning a lot of them were also "travel club" swimmers so she had some stiff competition. Some were her teammates from her own "travel club" so she knew it wasn't going to be a cake walk. She swam the breaststroke (her best stroke to date) in the 200 meter medley relay and made up some good time for a 2nd place finish by her team. She placed 11th in the 50 free and 5th (earning a medal) in the 50 breast. Her relay team also placed 4th in the 200 meter free relay. 

Hailey on the other hand placed 6th in 25 meter free (earning a medal) and was our club's fastest 25 meter freestyle swimmer. She also placed 8th in the 25 meter back and was once again our club's fastest 25 meter backstroke swimmer (both of these events were out of 24 participants). And, her freestyle relay placed 4th overall. Her strokes have definitely improved and she's gotten faster over the course of the season. She doesn't love it like Peyton so I don't think we'll have another "travel club" swimmer but she enjoyed it enough that she may do it again next summer for fun. 

It's been a great month of swim team for the girls and since Austen's soccer ended early it's been all about them the last 4-5 weeks. People think I've gotten my great tan from the beach but it's really been the swim meets when it's been 90 plus degrees outside! 

Go Riptides! 

Peyton in Lane 3

The meet was a luau theme

Happy July!

We welcomed in July in Michigan this year and celebrated the 4th (somehow I got no pictures of that day but I did manage to get some before and after the 4th!). 

Friends came to visit for our usual 4th of July weekend albeit a bit different this year because of the way the holiday fell and some were affected by testing positive for COVID so couldn't come at all. Still some came on Saturday and some had to leave on the 4th but we still managed to get in some good beach days and lots of eating and drinking (I'm in detox now) and games (including mini golf). 

Frederik Meijer Gardens 

After our friends all departed, we enjoyed another two days by ourselves where we crossed off some of the things we've been meaning to do each summer in Michigan. One was visiting the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. We were so impressed we ended up buying a season pass that we can also use at the Morton Arboretum and other conservatories in the country. We explored their children's garden where we hunted for all the statues and learned a lot about the Great Lakes which was replicated in the garden. Hailey said she learned that if your feet were 924 feet long you could touch the deepest part of Lake Michigan. 

We then ventured to some of the adult areas and saw a replica of Leonardo DaVinci's horse statue that also sits in Milan, Italy. It is quite large! 

Luckily for us that evening also featured a concert in their amphitheater so we got to enjoy a picnic dinner on the lawn and some great music (one guy sounded a lot like Chris Stapleton - Tom was very happy about that!).

The next day, we booked a boat ride on one of South Haven's tall ships (also used for pirate rides). It was a bit windy that day so the waves were a bit bigger causing Hailey to suffer some sea sickness especially after going downstairs to check out the sleeping quarters and galley kitchen. But the cool air and one of the deck hands' suggestions to look at the horizon helped her feel better. 

We packed a lot into an extra long weekend but once again made some memories in SoHa!

Mini Golf w/ Maeve

The Meijers

Summer Concert

Tall Ship Boat Ride

Feeling a Bit Better!