Swimming...

Tomorrow is a big day, a one mile swim.

Swim Season almost over

This weekend is a double header swim meet weekend, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. Last weekend we swam in St.Charles only a ten minute drive from the house. This weekend is a 45 minute drive. Warm-ups start at 7am, so we were up bright and early. Dave flies off to Ireland and Scotland tonight and will be gone nearly 10 days. Then shortly after that we'll be heading off to Australia. Attached are some swim meet photos and general pics.

Finding a warm day this Sumner

It hasn't been the warmest of summers. But when a warm day comes along we make the most of it. Last weekend we spent the day on the lake sailing with our old neighbours Bob and Kristin, their kids Sydney and Olivia. The weather was perfect, just enough wind to set sail.
A few days later we headed to the Brookfield Zoo.

An exiting June

June has been a very busy and exiting month. Shaina's soccer team made it all the way to the finals and came third. Hunter's baseball team came first in his division and is playing today for the championship.
Swimming has been going well. We've had a few competitions and the kids have improved their times in all strokes.
The Chicago Blackhawks are doing well too and are in the final round of play offs. The series is tied 2-2 best of 7.

Some more photos

Some random pics... The baseball stadium photo is of all the local school bands playing together, including Shaina at a baseball game.

It's been crazy!

Yes, it's been a while. And to be honest I've been forgetting to update my blog!
Kids finished their school year this week. After summer Shaina will change schools and head into 6th grade at middle school. Hunter will still be in primary school and head into 4th grade.
Swimming has taken over our lives. The kids swim on 2 teams and swim 5 days a week! St.Charles Swim Team runs year round, the other is a summer team called Thornwood Thunder with over 200 swimmers and is run by me! We are still doing soccer, baseball and martial arts! I am no longer working Saturday nights unless they desperately need me. I need a break!
Attached are some photos of end of year concert, swimming and other happenings.
Heading to Australia in August for 3 weeks, hopefully I'll see as many people as I can.

The Madness is about to begin!

April Fool's Day today! A pretty uneventful day...
The sports season is about to begin in the next week or so...It's still too cold to do anything, and few practices have been cancelled.
Hunter and Shaina will start St.Charles Long Course Swim Season on the 8th April. Shaina will begin soccer this Saturday with her first game at 8:30am (Ugh). Hunter has started baseball practice (indoors) and his first game is scheduled for the 20th. AND Thornwood Swim Team will start on the 7th of June. Soccer and Baseball will run through 'til the end of June. Swimming will run through until the end of July....oh and there is Kyuki-do that runs year round.
Keep a look out for a lot more photos over the next few months...

Finally some warm weather!

A Cruise!
After nearly 15 years, we got back on board...this time with kids in tow!
We left the cold of Chicago and headed to the Caribbean for 7 days of sun, surf and sand. Well, more like ships, islands and beaches..but it doesn't have the same ring to it.
We flew to Orlando, Florida. Hired a car and drove 1 hour to Port Canaveral (where the Space Shuttle lived) and boarded our ship with the 4000 other passengers. It was actually quite a chilly day, the East Coast had a huge cold front so it was unseasonably cold.
The first full day was spent at sea. The next day was a nice hot day spent on Labadee beach in Haiti. On the following days we visited Jamaica, Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico. The kids had a great time. They swam with stingrays and dolphins, played mini golf, climbed a rock wall and surfed a Flo-Rider. Dave and I enjoyed doing nothing!
We returned to a winter storm...we haven't had much snow this season, so it was actually nice to see everything turn white.

More swimming and a trip to New York!

Shaina and Hunter have had two swim meets since my last post. One was only a 45 minute drive away, the other at the local high school where they train. They both swam really well and dropped times in all events. Their final swim meet was last weekend. They again dropped times, but only a second or two.
I had my first girls weekend (4 days away) in New York! A friend that I used to work with at my first job, flew over for two weeks to celebrate her daughters 21st birthday. The weather was freezing but dry. The temperatures got down to -9°C. Yes, very cold!
We were staying in Times Square, perfect walking distance from all the tourist sights to see: Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Centre, World Trade Centre Memorial, Wall Street and a few others...
We had a great time, some great food and drinks and of course a great time with friends.
A few days after I returned, Dave headed off on his "business" trip to Costa Rica... To lie around the pool and play golf.
In two weeks all four of us are going on a Caribbean Cruise! Can't wait to be warm!
Photos will follow!

Off to a busy start!

Well! The new year is off and running. The kids had their first interstate swim meet in Indiana this past weekend. We drove the 3.5 hour drive down Friday night and were up before the birds at 5am the next morning. Shaina swam in the morning session in 3 events. She improved her time in only one event (butterfly). Hunter swam in the afternoon session also in 3 events. He also improved his time in one event (breaststroke). No ribbons or medals this time, but Hunter did win his heat and received a Heat Winner Bag Tag... Kids collect these and hang them on their swim bags.
I took the Friday and Saturday off work and we drove back late that Saturday afternoon.
Spooks the cat is doing well, he was a little concerned when the neighbour came over to feed him....but he survived!

2012 has come to a close!

December raced by... No white Christmas but a cold and quiet one. Most of my shopping was done online (which is the only way to shop), so therefore I was super organized.
I worked some extra shifts at work to catch the Christmas dollar.
The kids awoke around 6:30am Christmas morning. Dave and I crawled out of bed around 7:30am.
By that time the kids had sorted through all the gifts and placed them in the appropriate piles of what belonged to whom.
Hunter and Shaina both received the Lego's they asked Santa for. Hunter also got a new bike. Shaina, a new desk for her room. The usual gifts of pj's and Wii games arrived as well... And some much needed swim gear. All said and done, a great Christmas. Dave as usual cooked lunch...Yay!
I worked New Years Eve and picked up a shift for someone on New Years Day... (my good deed for the year-check that off the list!)
I will finish my 2 week working streak at the end of this week when the kids go back to school on Monday.. I will do nothing that day!
We have a swim meet in Indiana on the 11th.. Kids are looking forward to it. Still enjoying the swimming, and it does make the winter pass by sooner.
I'm heading off to New York on the 21st for my first ever girls weekend!
Photos will follow!
Happy 2013...