She did it!

Emily completed the 500 yard freestyle event today! She swam it in just over 8 minutes. I'm so proud of her. She was exhausted afterwards, but proud to have accomplished it.

Rob and Sam stayed in Fargo, so I drove to Mandan by myself. I was looking forward to some "alone time" to clean my van, take a walk, window shop, etc., but instead, I twisted my ankle at the swim meet and it's now swollen to the size of a tennis ball! I'm resting in the room with ice on my ankle. I'm so bummed that my free time is going to be spent resting.

Another swim meet

Another Saturday, another swim meet for Emily. She had some personal bests at this one! It was in Dickinson, ND - she left on the bus at 5 AM and didn't get home until 1 AM - LONG trip! I wasn't able to attend this meet, but plan to be at all the rest of them. Emily swam the 200 yard freestyle and decreased her time from 3:32.20 to 3:03.10! That's 30 seconds better! She also swam the 100 yard freestyle in 1:19.57, and swam the 200 yard freestyle relay - her time was 37.63 and the total team was 2:35.75.

This was all good practice for her as next Saturday she's swimming at a meet in Mandan and will be doing the 500 yard freestyle! That's 20 laps!

Sam and I had a cute conversation over the weekend:
Sam - "Mom, when is my next birthday?"
Mom - "You just had a birthday last month. You have to wait 11 more months until your next birthday."
Sam - "But what day is my next birthday?"
Mom - "August 25."
Sam - "Why is my birthday always August 25?"

Weekend news

Emily attended her first swimming invite on Saturday. These are different from regular meets that usually have 1 or 2 different schools (duals). Whapeton, Willeston, Fargo North, Fargo South, West Fargo, and Shanley. Emily competed in 4 of the 11 events. 4 is the maximum number you can compete in. She had a great time and I was able to learn a bunch because I sat next to a seasoned swimming mom and asked a lot of questions!

On Sunday, Sam attended his first day of Sunday school. He really enjoyed it and even asked on Monday if he was going to Sunday school. I explained that he had to wait 2 weeks now because our church's Fall Festival is next week and there's no Sunday school. Emily and I then prepared food and served it at the Salvation Army that afternoon. We picked up one of her friends and there were 2 other ladies from our church there, in addition to the kitchen manager. I definitely want to do that again. It made me very grateful for what I have, and there were so many kind, thankful people there that it made me want to help more.

Emily's first swim meet

Emily's first swim meet was Thursday, September 7th. She participated in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. The pools are 25 yards long, so that means she had to swim back and forth and back and forth! She finished both heats, competing against upperclassmen. Sullivan has a no-cut policy, and only about 20 girls on the team, so Emily is swimming at varsity level right now! Most of the team is young with only a few older girls (grades 9-11). The coach said that this year and next year are the building years and by the 2008-2009 school year our team should be awesome!

Kids with Disney characters

Disney World Fun

We're back from a great family vacation! (Although I did have to work a bit.) I've got a ton of super fun pictures to post. Quick recap:

We flew to Orlando on Sunday, August 27 after and dropping Riley off at the Barnesville Bed & Biscuit and leaving Max with Kathy and Jerry. At the airport, we simply went to the Disney welcome area and hopped on a bus to the Disney Yacht Club, leaving our luggage behind for the Disney staff to gather and deliver to our hotel room! Once in the hotel, we were amazed! It was huge and beautiful and filled with lots of staff anxious to do things for you! We registered and then went to the welcome reception put on by Microsoft. Lots of good food and drinks and conversation. Then back to the room to unpack and get to sleep for the next day!

Monday started slowly with us getting to the character breakfast around 7:45. The kids had their pictures taken with Mickey and Minney Mouse, Donald Duck, Buzz Lightyear, and Cinderella. Oh, and we ate. Then Rob took the kids off to Animal Kingdom while I worked. We had some meetings and then I got to participate in a team-building activity called geo-caching. It was an awesome experience and I learned a great deal about competition and working with other teams toward the same goal! Unfortunately, it was about 95 degrees and had to be near 100% humidity and this activity took place from 11-1 at Epcot! We were drenched with sweat when we were finished. A few more hours of meetings, and then I had dinner with the UA folks until about 9:00. I beat Rob and the kids back to the room as they were watching the fireworks at Epcot. They had a blast visiting Animal Kingdom and Epcot on Monday.

Tuesday I worked from 8-6 with 30 minutes for lunch in the same room as all of the meetings. Rob and the kids went to Magic Kingdom and we met at 6:30 to attend the Dynamics AX ship-it party! The kids went into a separate room with games, activities, computers, and TVs to have their own fun while we drank and ate and conversed with other grown ups until 10 PM. Then I took the kids (both ours and others) to our room while the rest of the adults went out to a piano bar for more fun.

Wednesday was fun for all of us as I got to go with Rob and the kids to the parks! We slept in a bit because of the rain from Tropical Storm Ernesto, but were able to be at MGM by 10 that morning. After visiting lots of fun stuff, we decided to head back to the hotel when it started to rain again. We rested, took naps, and did 2 loads of laundery. Then we ordered in a pizza and went to bed early.

Thursday we got up early and went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours and then Animal Kingdom for a few hours. I have so many pictures to post that will describe all the fun that we had! At 7:30 PM, we attended a dessert reception at Epcot. The resort we stayed at is considered an Epcot resort, meaning you can walk to the park from the hotel. Or you can take a boat, which is what we usually did just because it was more fun! We had wonderful desserts and watched the fireworks from a little island between France and the UK. Then we went back to the room and packed.

Friday we got up early to catch the bus to the airport. We were able to check in at the hotel so we didn't have to haul our luggage around anywhere. It was very slick. Next time we go to Disney World, Rob wants to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I think the Animal Kingdom was his favorite park! I got bumped up to 1st class on the flight home, but explained that I was sitting with my son and couldn't leave him in coach alone, so they bumped him up, too. I decided to let Emily and Rob take the first class seats. I think they really enjoyed it! We spent Friday night in Minneapolis and went to a drive-in movie with Sue, Terri, Kathy & Jerry, Karin, Kaylee, and Karissa. The kids watched Barnyard and then most of them fell asleep (including Rob) during Talladega Nights (which was probably better than watching the movie).

Saturday we made it home and started the unpacking and cleaning. We're not done yet, but we're getting there! Emily has her first swim meet tonight, so I'm very excited to watch that. I plan to take some pictures to post, too. She's nervous about the butterfly - she says she doesn't know how to do it but she's scheduled to compete tonight with it. We'll see what happens!

Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom