Team Turrill: Swim Team

The kids have been faithfully swimming an HOUR every weekday this summer because we signed them up for SWIM TEAM!

(Oh if you could've seen the weeping and gnashing of teeth when we told them).

But then something amazing happened. They LIKED it. (And Ben and I still silently cheer when Bode and Mimi both jump wordlessly into a cold pool and just swim their little hearts out).

But they were doing Swim Team under one condition (mostly Mimi's). They would not be participating in the meets. And really, we were fine with that. Ben and I cared mostly that the kids were swimming every day. The rest didn't matter much to us.

Then one day Mimi said "I think I'd want to do a meet." And before we knew it, we found ourselves waking our kids up at 6 am to head to our pool with all of the other Swim Team families to cheer on their swimmers.

Warm ups were the perfect chance for me to catch some of these kiddos in action.

Like amateurs we sat close to the pool (and in direct line of the unforgiving sunshine).

How many veteran families just shook their heads at our "newness?" (I rarely am a shade sitter. But I'm sure after this meet I'll be changing that tune considering no one watches their kids from their seat anyways. I noticed that swim parents prefer to lunge into the swim lane and yell "PULLL" "PULLLL" "PULLL" in the weirdest intonation to a kid who can't even hear them. It's charming really.)

Each kid made a poster for another kiddo on the team. See Bode's name up there?

Here was Mimi's cute poster (made by our very own friends Kristin and Griff!)

(Sadly, when it was time to take it home, Mimi couldn't find it. These are the things that crush sentimental hoarders like us. We looked TWICE for it. No luck. To which Ben said, "I probably would've just thrown it away anyways. He has a way of really bringing things home like that).

I think I had just as many butterflies watching my kids line up for their events as they did.

(This is Mimi NOT waiting for Bode. When she is stressed, she's a little intense. Maybe it was best for Bode to have a little space...)

This little guy in a sea of big people just stuck out to me. xo

All these numbers and events really meant nothing to my unexperienced brain. But somehow having it written on my coffee cup (as well as some book and app recommendations from a nearby parent ;) really made me feel better about my life.

We were so proud of these kids. We joined in the obnoxious parent club and cheered our hearts out for them and teared up at how awesome they were (Mimi got first in a heat that she LOST HER GOGGLES IN-there. Parent brag).

And they felt proud too. Just look at these faces.

And Mimi's friend Kaitlyn and her sweet mom came and cheered Mimi and Bode on for most of the meet. How did we get so lucky in life with these people around us?