Shockwaves, Episode 5

The Muppet Meet.
They call it the Muppet Meet because it is only for the littles, 8 years old and under.

We didn't go to this meet when Nicco was on a different team two years ago. I don't remember the reason, but I had a reason. And I was glad for the reason, at first because I didn't want to get up and get my kid ready for races at 5:30 in the morning. I was glad for the reason later because I found out it was hot (I know!) and crowded and even though it was only the littles, it was ALL the littles. There were eight or nine heats for each event and apparently, it dragged on and on until about 3:30.

To qualify for championships, swimmers must compete in at least three meets or two meets and one invitational. Nicco had already qualified and I admit, I was sorely tempted to come up with a reason why we couldn't go to the meet today. Especially looking at the forecast for the weekend. 112, they said. But, we went. Nicco made a deal to get $5.00 from his grandpa if he swam a 25 in his freestyle race. We got up at 5:30 and Nicco ate oatmeal for his pre-race breakfast (just like Lucy) and we got to the pool by about 6:45.

Ready to Race!

Our camp was a tiny little tucked away corner between the bathrooms and the snack bar. Coach Parker said that even though he was there by 6:00, all the other spaces were already staked out. It actually turned out to be a great spot...we were backed up to the building, so no sunshine on our backs, and we had an overhang in addition to the couple of canopies other parents brought. Nice! And, we were mere steps away from the staging area where the kids lined up for their races.

The Staging Area, or On-Deck Circle

Leading up to the meet our coaches and parents with past Muppet Meet experience all said not to expect to leave before 3:00. When we were about 20 minutes late getting the first race underway, I assumed we were in for a long hot day. But, by the time Nicco finished his first event, they caught up on the schedule and were running on time. Could we actually get out by 12:30???

Coach Parker Leading Stretches

There was about an hour between each of Nicco's races and he killed time with his i-pad, and between 2-4 friends hovering over his shoulders.

It started to really bug him as the day wore on. I told him to be kind and to remember these moments. They will come back to bite him in the future, I'm sure. Probably the next time someone has a screen and he does not. Anyway...

Warming Up for the Fly

He swam the butterfly first. His time was not bad for that stroke. Not his fastest, but average for him. He was disqualified though because he didn't get his arms out of the water properly.

Then he swam the backstroke. This is usually his second best stroke, but he was really slow for some reason today. About five seconds slower than normal. Based on those first two races, I was losing confidence that he would hit that 25 in his freestyle.

Next was breaststroke. Again, he had a decent time and again, he was disqualified. Apparently, he threw some flutter kicks in there with his breaststroke kicks.

Nicco and Chris between races...

And finally, he swam his freestyle. He looked strong the whole way. He didn't slow down as he approached the wall like he normally does. I hit stop on my watch and was thrilled to see the time. I got my camera ready to capture the look on his face when he saw it.

25.42! "I did it!" he said, "I actually did it!"

We gathered up all our belongings at noon!! and got in the steaming hot car. 114, it said. Fortunately, it's not that hot in OV. We only got to 110 at our house. A nap and a dip in our own pool were in order, but not until after the boy called his Daddy and his Grandpa to claim his prize!

A New Trick and a Summer Afternoon

We went to our friends' house yesterday afternoon to enjoy the sun, lemonade, pool, and good company. Nicco was standing on the edge of the pool and fell in, with style. He surprised himself. He decided to replicate the tumble, but under control. He said to me, "I have a trick! At first it was just a reaction, but look what I can do!"

He was very proud and pleased with himself, so when we went in the pool at our house this afternoon, he just flipped and flipped and flipped.

 

I love how he preps himself for his flip. He's just like Michael Phelps:

Then of course he had to show off for his Papa:

After soaking up the sun and cooling off in the pool, we enjoyed a cold and creamy treat in our new awesomeness. The metal wall, which will rust more with time and look better and better (I'm thinking that would be a good place to put some giant metal poppies or sunflowers!) but the best thing about it (besides hiding the ugly pool equipment) is how it blocks the sound of the pump.

 

Chocolate face. I lurvs my kid.

Shockwaves, Episode 4

Swim races again. It was supposed to be a tri-meet but one of the teams cancelled. The host team wanted to cancel but then our coach asked if they would let us run the meet with their supervision and oversight so that in the future, we can host meets at our pool. They agreed. I signed up to be a timer, which was okay because Patrice would be there with Nicco to help him listen and get to the blocks for his races.

It was another far away meet and it turned out that Patrice was not going to make it due to a project at work. Nicco and I got to the pool and I helped him get settled in with some friends and their boy promised to help Nicco get to the blocks on time. Patrice called and said his work project got cancelled and he would make it after all. Yay! I checked the board for Nicco's races and he was not registered at all! Boo! I called Patrice and told him not to leave yet, I might be heading home myself. Smoke coming out of my ears and darts launching from my eyeballs, I did my best to maintain control when I approached our coach about the mistake. She smiled and said, "No problem. We'll go add him right now." So I called Patrice back and told him to come on down.

Nicco's first race was the butterfly leg of the medley relay. He subbed for a kid who didn't show up. He did great! His armstroke was excellent and he kept his feet together on his kick. I don't know what his time was because the Daddy had not yet arrived and I was timing in a different lane.

His second race was the backstroke. I totally missed it. So did the Daddy. He was chatting with another daddy. The Papa said he looked up and there was Nicco, all wet from his race. "Great swim, buddy!" he said, assuming he was right. I assume he was right too.

The third race was the breaststroke. Like the butterfly, his technique improved a ton since his last race. I don't know his time on that one either...I gave the Daddy the stopwatch but I'm not sure how he did.

His final race was the freestyle. There was nobody swimming in my lane so I timed my own kid. There were four stopwatches on him in that race. I watched him kicking and pulling and at 20 seconds he was so close I was sure he would reach that elusive 25 second mark, but he always seems to slow down a bit right at the end. I don't know if he wears out or if he coasts to the end. I kind of think it is the latter because he's never heavily out of breath at the end of his race. I think that if he really focused he could do it. But, alas, all four stopwatches read 26 seconds point something. Again, so close!

With only two teams and the fact that we were able to combine a bunch of events, the meet finished before 9:00. My kid was in bed asleep before the time that we are usually just finishing up races! That was nice.

It was a good night. I had fun timing with my friend, although we chatted through a couple of announcements and found ourselves running to the other end of the pool once or twice. And since we both had kids swimming, there was a time or two that one or the other of us forgot to start our watches. Good thing we had two timers for each lane!

I think Patrice had fun chatting with my friend's husband. At one point, the 10 year old son of my friends came down to talk to his mama and mentioned that "for three straight hours, Dad has just been talking." "That's what grown-ups do," she told him. I don't think he was satisfied with that response.

Nicco had fun racing and playing on his tablet. I let him bring it because I didn't think his Daddy was going to be there. Turned out he didn't need it, but he used it anyway. We'll just call it a reward for his good swims.

And another night of racing is in the books. Four meets down, two more to go.

Shockwaves, Episodes 2-3

Episode 2, Shockwaves v. Tigersharks

To celebrate our 9th anniversary, Patrice and I spent the whole. entire. long. evening watching our small fry swim. This meet was far, far away like the first meet and we decided that it was better to be a little late, even to possibly miss warm-ups to avoid taking two cars (one of which still only has one functioning headlight...) practically to the border.

 

The Daddy got home and while he quickly changed his clothes, I quickly loaded up the car and we were off. We even got to the pool in time for warm-ups after all.

 

Nicco swam the butterfly leg of the medley relay, the individual butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, and the freestyle relay. It was his first time swimming fly and he did okay. He used the wrong kick and was therefore disqualified, but it was a learning experience.

When he reached me at the end of the pool, he held up his one finger. I said, "Yes...one lap only. You're done with your part of the relay." He said, "No! Mom, look! I lost my ring!" And he dove down to look for it. I had to yell at him to get him out of the pool. He didn't understand why he couldn't go diving for rings, just because there were races going on...pssh. I reminded him it cost just a buck. I'll get him a new one.

The night went on and on and the boy did okay in his breaststroke. He was more concerned with going fast than he was with performing the stroke properly. And wouldn't you know it, those short, choppy strokes actually slowed him down! Another learning experience. Although he's going to have to learn it from his coach. He was not interested in listening to me.

The young boys on his team have a pretty quick freestyle relay. They are also developing a little teammate bond. It is fun to see.

Here's my boy coming off the blocks late at night...

And there he goes, anchoring the relay. Late at night. He's getting close to his goal of 25 seconds but he can't quite break that threshold. It will happen.

We didn't get home until after 10:00 again. A late night for my small buddy, especially after swimming five races. And the poor kid can't even sleep in because of French camp!

Episode 3, Shockwaves v. Monsoon
Last night's meet was at our old stomping grounds. I was really glad to be close to home. It wouldn't be nearly so late a night! Nicco had five races again. This time he swam the freestyle leg of the medley relay, butterfly, backstroke, individual freestyle, and the freestyle relay. Three chances to hit 25 on that freestyle!

Here's coach Parker, gathering all the swimmers for their events. Poor Parker. Herding cats, it is. All those little swimmers just don't want to stay in one place. The host team had a pen for all the swimmers on deck. Not a bad idea, I say.

 And here are two of our little swimmers, Chris and Nicco, waiting for their turn in the medley relay.

He swam his relay leg in 26 seconds. Darn! So close.
His butterfly looked much better than last time. Better technique and just about the same speed.
He looked great in his backstroke, he just slowed down a little at the end and wasn't sure how close he was to the finish. He may have lost a second or two getting hung up on the lane line and looking around for the finish.

And, here he is finishing his individual freestyle race. He looked up, anxious to hear his time. The night wore on and wore out my little boy. Each swim was a couple seconds slower. It's understandable. I think at this stage, he's going to have to swim his little guts out on his first race to get his 25.

We ate pizza and hamburgers from the snack bar for dinner and kept our eyes on the clock. We were shocked (and a little dismayed) as it neared 9:00 and we were only about half way through the meet. What we thought would be a relatively early night, being so close to home, ended up our latest night yet! I told my kid to sleep in till 10:00. He laughed. I wasn't kidding.

Still, he's doing great, making friends, learning and improving. It is a blast to watch him. I'm so proud.

Epilogue

Our Father's Day fun ended. We were all hot, dusty, sweaty, windblown, and bounced to our limits. We hit the highway (not the dusty trail) with Mr. Chad and his family behind us, thinking that a refreshing cold beverage and a dip in the pool would be most welcome. 

We kept our eyes on our former Jeep as we coasted down the mountain (without stalling) past the towering saguaros and into town.

We honked our horn at Mr. Darrell and his family as we passed Pizza Hut. Mr. Nicco never lost his worry and kept looking behind to make sure our friends were still there. We lost them at a light. Nicco was concerned. The Daddy tried to text our friends to make sure all was well and when we got to our house and Nicco and I were in our swims (roughly two seconds after walking through the door) Patrice had a message. Chad's Jeep overheated and he was stranded with his three girls on the side of the road.

My Knight in Shining Armor rode off to rescue the damsels (and their Daddy) in distress. Apparently with all the bouncing and shaking going on, some part of Chad's vehicle cut the radiator so it spilled all the coolant and was rendered useless. At that point, the only thing to do was to tow it home. It broke Patrice's heart a little to see his former Jeep disabled, but what could he do, right? Nothing. So he watched Chad and his brother-in-law tether the Jeep to a big truck. He reminded them that the tow line needs to be tight, if there's slack you will break one of three things: the rear bumper of the tow-er, the tow line, or the front bumper of the tow-ee. And wouldn't you know it, there was slack in the line and Patrice's heart fell when he saw his former Jeep literally in pieces on the road.

Chad eventually did make it home, and now one Jeep needs new tires, the other needs a new drive shaft and heat shield, and a third needs a new radiator and to reattach the front bumper (or whatever). We never heard from Patrick and Amber, so we can only assume (and hope) they made it down the mountain in one piece.

Patrice came back from his rescue mission, Nicco and I had already swim swam swum, and Mr. Rob showered away the layers of dust and sweat. We watched some Doctor, ate some food, and went to bed relatively early.

It was an exhausting fun day. I think (hope) the mishaps did not completely ruin the Daddy's day. I think (hope) he'll want to go out adventuring again.

More Fun on the Father's Day Jeep Adventure

We were all hot and tired from an exciting day on the dusty trail and definitely ready for lunch. Some of our friends wanted to try out the new restaurant in the small town at the top of the mountain, but being Father's Day, it was packed. There was no way we would be seated and fed within three hours. So, we decided to go to the picnic area. But, being Father's Day, it was packed. There was no parking. Even in the No Parking zones.

 Morons.

All the idiots parking on the road in the clearly marked No Parking zones made it difficult and in some places impossible for traffic to get through. This was a problem for our Jeep, which kept overheating and stalling.

We finally decided to go to Bigelow road. But, with our engine problems, we shortly lost our fearless leader. And, there were campgrounds, trails, and roads all named Bigelow. Finally, we just had to stop. The engine needed to cool, and our bodies needed fuel and rest as well. We found a nice shady spot to unpack our picnic and figured that sooner or later, our friends would find us.

Nicco thought, for some reason, that I was not as hot and dusty and tired as he was and that it would be perfectly reasonable and acceptable to use me as a chair. Ugh.

Patrick and Amber found us first. They stopped by to make sure all was well, went off to inform Darrell where we were, then went their separate way. They wanted to test out the climbing capabilities of their new Jeep.

The kids didn't really settle down for lunch...they nibbled and climbed, then nibbled and ran, then nibbled and climbed and ran some more.

Once we were settled in to a degree and pacified by delicious sandwiches and pasta salad, Patrice asked our EMT friend what he thought about the painful swelling in his finger.

 Doctor Chad checked him out and told him to see a real doctor. This picture here reminds me of...

 ...this picture here. Hee hee hee. Mr. Rob laughed at the Daddies holding hands on Father's Day.

Laney was curious about the injury too. Maybe she'll grow up to be a real doctor. Or an EMT like her papa.

And, look who finally decided to show up! Darrell and his family found us and shared our picnic, kind of. Camden had his heart and mind set on Pizza Hut. There was no Pizza Hut at the top of the mountain.

 So while his sister ate, he teased. It's what little brothers do.

 Laney practicing her mortal combat skills with her Daddy. You know what they say,

 the family that fights together stays together.

 Mr. Darrell, Tough Guy.

The kids had their fill of snacking and went off into the woods. The woods are so good for kids. Yay, woods!

King of the Mountain!

 For some reason, I just love this picture of Laney and Nicco. It makes me happy.

 Running up the hill...

 ...and down again.

 Twins!

With all the running and the up and down and back and forth and side to side it was hard to get all five kids in one spot together. Rob, our photographer for the day, finally managed to get them all within one frame.

 Dev tried her very mightiest to knock this tree down with a stick.

She nearly hit Nicco in the face. Neither one of them was paying much attention to what was going on in their immediate surroundings.

 And what's that I see, sneaking behind that tree?

 Is it Bigfoot?

No, it's just Nicco!

The kids found treasures. Rocks. There are no rocks in town.



 Nests.

Admittedly, I haven't seen nests like this in town. Our city birds don't work this hard. They make really lame nests that blow away.

 Beautiful trees!

It was a refreshing getaway, in spite of the minor mishaps. We enjoyed the forest until we were all forested out, then headed back down the mountain.