Future Olympians!! (And Their Umbrella-Wielding Parents...)

Future Olympians?? Why not?!?!?! I think that's an excellent goal to aim for! (I would actually just be happy with swimming scholarships x 4 in about 10-12 years...) :) I actually found out yesterday that the guy in the above picture with the yellow pants and black trench coat is the coach for the Elite swimmers, the ones who really ARE training for the Olympics in 2016!!

Check out our kids' coach, Coach Hannah, doing her thing that she does so well! She's the one in the blue swim cap, IN the pool with the kids! Best swim coach EVER!! We love you!!!

Daryle and I headed out to take the kids to swim lessons last night and it was of course RAINING. Not such a huge deal for the little people in the pool, already planning on getting wet (seriously, they don't really care) but for us wimpy parents it was less than awesome. You could tell which of us were the novices (me in my sweatpants and sneakers, instantly soaked to the knees) and which were the seasoned experts (everyone else wearing galoshes and "whaling parkas.") I did manage to remember my umbrella though, which only flipped inside out twice.

Truly, my "complaining" is only in jest! It IS a pretty hard-core sport, though, and like anything worthwhile, it does require a certain amount of dedication by both the kids and of course mostly their parents. (Incidentally, swim practice at 4:30 in the afternoon is equivalent to about 2:00 in the morning for a night-shifter, but I digress...) :)

I love watching my children be a part of something that they're really good at, that they love to do, and something that is teaching them a lot of wonderful skills and disciplines. On the way to practice yesterday, Ma-lak casually mentioned that since it was raining, maybe it would be better to stay home and play Play Station instead. (Good try, right?!) I loved my husband's response: "Son, we don't run away from adversity. We swim TOWARDS it."

So here's to swimming, running, or crawling our way TOWARD the things that will make us stronger! (Thank you, Lord, for your "life lessons" that translate into every part of our lives!)

Hopefully if all continues to go well, they'll make swim team this summer and we'll have meets to go to this fall! And who knows - you just might see me waving at you on camera at the 2024 Olympics!!