Two little swimmers!

I know that the idea of spending most of their summer Saturdays at swim meets sounds miserable to most people, but I LOVE it!  This year, both of the kids are on the team!  The first swim meet this weekend and it was a long day, but lots of fun.  When I was 5 and participating at my first swim meet, I stood on the block and would not jump in the water when the gun went off......a story that has been told MANY times over the years by my parents.  Well, Mia followed in my footsteps.  She was SO excited and then we walked up with all of the swimmers....the girl behind her started crying and she looked up at me and said "Mommy, I don't wanna do it!!!".   Once she got started crying, there was no convincing her.  The good news, is that she did swim the other 2 races with a smile (and a little bit of bribery).  True to form, Jake had a meltdown during warmups (as he did the first meet of the last season), but got it out of his system and had a GREAT day.  I was the parent coordinator for the 7/8 boys and had a minor (Brian would say major) freak out when one of my relay swimmers could not be located.  But all in all, it really was a great day and I'm hoarse from cheering on my two Fast Dolphins!  One other bonus this year is that cousin Grady is on our team too.....fun stuff!!  Oh and I can't forget one of my favorite moments of the day.....Jake was swimming a relay and it was just his relay group vs. one other relay group from the other team.  Jake hopped out of the water and with the biggest smile, said "Mommy, we got SECOND!!!"......loved this SO much that his view was not that he lost or got last place, but that he was thrilled to get second place!!

I can't get the video to load on Blogger, so here is a link to Mia's first race.....I can't stand the sound of my own voice on video, so please excuse my screaming!
http://youtu.be/zV8dzpEH-hs

Jake's first race of the season!
http://youtu.be/LxKPf9aqjhw

 Love the bed head....

 Thank goodness for these sweet teenage girls who assist with the coaching!  Mia ADORES them and they gladly tote her around on their hips....here she is with Zoe.

 Little Miss Personality

Mia is 5!

Every year I say it (we all do) and every year I mean it with all of my heart.....it's going by TOO fast!!  Mia, my BABY, turned 5.  She is fun, sassy, and FULL of personality!  She is obsessed with animals of all types.....dogs and cats have always been (and still are) some of her favorite creatures but she's currently hot on horses....specifically unicorns.  Of course, that was the party theme she chose...rainbow unicorns to be exact.  Jake recently got a magic set for his birthday and Mia looked up at me with the biggest eyes and said "Mommy, he can turn me into a UNICORN!!".  It was awesome.  She was SO excited and for a brief moment (until I had to break the news that it wasn't THAT kind of magic set), all of her unicorn dreams were going to come true!  On her actual birthday, she had a day FULL of fun (and yes, spoiling).  Donuts, movies, lunch, Build A Bear, swim practice, a trip to the craft store, and then dinner.  I for one, was exhausted.  Especially since she'd been up at midnight the night before.....it was like she sensed that the day had officially shifted to her birthday and she couldn't handle it!  Dreary eyed at midnight, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I feel bigger".  It's those little moments with her that make me smile SO big.  Here are some pics of her party that she asked me to post (for Auntie Staci).  She was in her element.....all attention was on her and she loved every minute of it!

 Unicorn stuff was hard to come by but a RAINBOW unicorn party, that's one I can get behind.

So fun!

 These cookies were almost the end of me.  I knew when I bought the cookie cutter that they were going to cause me some frustration.....broken unicorn horns, broken legs, etc.....but I was in for a REAL treat.  If Ellie starts f-bombing, it will not be a surprise.  

 I. Love. This. Face.

 Can't have a unicorn party without a unicorn piñata!

 Who doesn't love a water balloon fight?  Though, I have to say it was a MUCH different scene than when Jake and his friends had the chance to pelt each other with water balloons!  The girls were gently lobbing them at each other, and giggling when they got the teeniest bit wet :)

 My little lion blowing out her birthday candle!

It didn't taste very good (7 layers of frosting is too much even for me), but it was cool!