That’s a wrap!

A great day at state swim! This is such an amazing group of kids. I couldn’t ask for better teammates for my girls. To sweeten the deal we got a hug from former coach DJ Glenn! 

Leah swam strong in her 100 IM and dropped another half second. Kiersten wins teammate of the meet! She said a swimmer she races often saw her and asked why she wasn’t swimming? She said it made her sad but she explained that she aged up and then just tried to make everyone else happy. I saw her giving pep talks at the block, high fives, and even hugs to her former relay friends before they swam their race. In her spare time she enjoyed a little R&R on the podium! 

After all was said and done we caught the new Nancy Drew movie and enjoyed some Thai at a place called Spice.  On to day 2...

Day 2 is done and we are wiped out but we’re home. So grateful for the coaches and teammates that helped get us to state. It was so much fun! Blessed by coaches Ed, Helene and Erin!

Miss Hattie and her sweet friend Lily were 2 of 5 six-year-old girls to swim at state in the 8 under age group. Watching them hold hands, giggling and smiling was the best! I think those two had more fun today than anyone else. I hope they always swim so kind, with big smiles and hearts.

Leah looked amazing in her 50 back and she dropped almost 2 seconds in her split of the Freestyle relay. We’re calling it a win! And cheers to the awesome hubby who supports these girls (and me) with all of his heart! He takes #girldad to a whole new level!

Relay team photo credits: Kiersten “Bug” Schultz 

Y State

State weekend is here! To he totally honest I didn’t forsee us being here. Back in October when Leah was adding time in most of her races we just figured that’s how the season was going to go. But she knew something wasn’t right. An Asthma diagnosis, trial and error with a few different inhalers, some hard work in the pool and here we are. She’s a completely different (and more confident) swimmer. Today she swims the 100 IM and the butterfly leg of the 200 Medley Relay. Tomorrow she swims the 200 IM, 50 backstroke, 50 Butterfly and the 200 Freestyle Relay. We told her this is it! You worked hard to get here, no more pushing for time, just have fun and leave it all in the pool! 

Miss Hattie has had a stellar first season. She didn’t qualify for state BUT since big sister aged up last week they needed a fill-in...Enter Hattie!shes swimming the 8U 100 freestyle relay. 

And then there is Kiersten. My #lilbugbug showed how strong she is this season. Up until January she thought she’d be swimming at state. She qualified as an 8 and under in several events. We thought the cut off date was 3/1 but in reality it was 3/15. She JUST turned 9! Next year will be her year. Yesterday the baby picture was in my FB memories. As a toddler she often would get into the full bathtub completely clothed. I asked her last night if she had to choose just one activity what would it be? Without missing a beat she said swim because sometimes she just needs to be in the water. 

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, I’m super proud of these girls and have loved watching them in the pool! 

Don’t stop the music

This music loving girl gets along so well with her music loving Papa! For years Leah wanted to play the violin and I was on the fence. We knew that Mt. Zion required two years of piano for percussion in the band, so we started piano three years ago to be on the “safe” side. She enjoys piano enough, and then came fourth grade. She was still determined to play the violin, so play she did! The last year and a half she’s grown with her instrument tremendously. She even has her first ensemble competition later this month.

A few months back she started asking to play the guitar too! I told her there was no way i could fit it in our piano, tumbling, swimming, dancing, tennis playing and softball playing schedule. So she went over my head!!! Yesterday she went to Charleston for a sleepover and Papa surprised her with her first acoustic. They sat together and she started learning a few beginners chords and she’s already in love. Papa gave her a few books. She’s ready to roll. Now if she could just play “Much too young to feel this damn old” on her fiddle they’d make quite the duet!

Bug turns 9!

They tell you it goes fast, but you really have no idea! Somehow I blinked and this kid is halfway to adulthood. The night before her birthday she said to me”mom, I don’t want to grow up.” I assured her that there would always be room for her in my arms. The truth is, I don’t really want her to grow up either. But at the same time watching her grow up is my greatest joy...that’s true for all three of my girls. She still has those same crystal blue eyes she’s had since birth, she still has to have things done on her terms, and her independence at this stage is admirable. I joke sometimes that she adults better than I do. She’s just a truly amazing girl!

On her birthday we started the day with gigantic cinnamon rolls...topped with candles of course. She took sugar cookies and tootsie pops to school to enjoy with her class. It was a bad day at school so Gigi took us to lunch at Olive Garden where they brought her a delicious lemon mousse and sang Happy Birthday to her and we finished out the day at Dairy Queen for our traditions ice cream cone!

On Saturday night we hosted Ella Spaide, Jane Osman, Emma Ulis and Cayde White to a sleepover. They made emoji bracelets and picture frames, they enjoyed pizza and Ice Cream cake. I think a good time was had by all. Happy Birthday to my sweet Bug!

YMCA Districts Day 2

What a weekend! Both the girls have some hardware. Kiersten decided she was going out with a bang for her last 8U meet. She set a goal to make it to the podium for all her individual events and she did! The 8th place in the backstroke was her first event of the day. She was seeded 12th and nailed it from start to finish. She took 7th in the 50 free and a tie for 6th in the 25 fly. Leah did amazing at her 200 IM and walked away with 7th place while her freestyle relay took 4th. Hattie even dropped .82 of a second in her 25 back and swam a relay as a 6 year old! The Gators took 3rd Place overall in the 8U age group. Fun, Fun, Fun! 

Y Districts Day 1

Here we go! I'm sad that this season is coming to an end. It's been a fun one. Hattie was supposed to swim a relay today, but they had to scratch because a swimmer didn't show up. She was a trooper. She showered and made sure to have lots of fun playing with other kids. She will be swimming the 8U 25 back tomorrow as a 6 year old.

This is Kiersten's last 8U meet and she's making the most of it. She dropped one second in her 25 breast to take a 4th place finish. She crushed her 100 IM and dropped 2.5 seconds to take 6th and her relay took 8th. She just missed the podium taking 9th in her 25 free. She enjoyed every minute of being on that podium. I'm so sad that she's aging up literally one week before state and won't get to swim in a few weeks. She qualified in several events. But she's taking it like a champ. So proud of this little Bug and can't wait to see her in action next year.

Leah started the day off slow. She just didn't have her head in the game. Her first swim didn't go the way she planned. She ended up just missing the podium and took 9th place in her 50 breast. Her relay team did pretty good and they took 6th place. We even stayed for the afternoon session. This is where she shined today. She sway the 12U medley relay. She was the butterfly leg of the relay and she nailed it for sure. She swam her best time, 37.55 and they dropped 5 seconds to take 6th WITH A 10 YEAR OLD! It was so fun to watch. Can't wait to see how tomorrow goes.

Akumal Sian Ka'an

Once again, Mitch and I were fortunate enough to get away for a vacation. This year we went with his siblings back to Mexico. This time we went a little further south to Akumal. It was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous. Temps were in the mid-80's and the beach was gorgeous. We dined at some amazing restaurants at the resort. And even enjoyed quite a bit of live music entertainment. It's always so nice for us to get away, disconnect and spend time together.

While we were away Leah took a little trip of her own. Grandma Tootie and Grandpa Dave got to see her swim for the first time. USA swimming regionals for Illinois were in Peoria. She was swimming the 50 back for an individual race and then she got put on the 12U Medley Relay team. She swam her 50 back in 38.7...pretty much her seed time and walked away in 8th place. She swam the breast stroke leg of the relay and they walked away in 6th place. What a great experience for her. Looking forward to Y Districts this weekend.