all the stars in the sky and the fishies in the sea

we FINALLY got the ribbons from our meet last week at ventana canyon and max won 1st place in BOTH his freestyle and backstroke heats.  way to go, max!!!!!

he was also named 'swimmer of the week' for "always being engaged, listening and on top of what's going on."  congrats buddy!!!

on tuesday, after practice, we had a fun lunch-and-movie-playdate with jack and josie to watch incredibles.  getting caught up for the team movie outing later in the week!

later that day, we went to 49ers for another meet.

ella's breaststroke has been looking awesome!

max finished 2nd in both his heats!  i think his backstroke was another PR - a time of 43.43.

ready for freestyle with his friend levi and his swim buddy

ella ready for her freestyle relay with her friend, emma

we saw a ton of friends from school, including ella's friends, remi and elijah

the rest of the week was uneventful and busy; friday morning we went to see incredibles 2 with the team.

..and friday night, the kids' summer book club did a star-themed night that included real telescopes.  they were able to see the clouds and 2 of the moons on jupiter and a close-up of our own moon.

super early saturday morning for the don baker desert rat invitational.  long morning but all-in-all, not too painful.

no PR's this early morning, but els placed 7th in breaststroke and 8th in backstroke (they do an overall placement of 16-20 kids)

 and we were done.  for like the rest of the weekend.  we were super excited to get back into the air conditioning and dragged roger's air mattress out into the living room and binge-watched star wars for the remainder of saturday.  and most of sunday.  just what we needed.

cannot wait to have a couch again.  we are counting the weeks.  floor tile has started to go down.  woohoo!

a great ending to the week - an awesome night out with my girls to kick off my birthday celebrations!

good PR

back in the swim of things...

we spent monday of last week unpacking and sleeping (recovering from our awesome seattle trip, but we didn't get back until midnight).  swim practice on tuesday followed by a home swim meet.  

max off the blocks for his freestyle - PR'd again with a time of 46.00 and a 2nd place finish!!

smiles down the lane with another PR - time of 50.80 and a 3rd place finish.  great job, max!

ella doing her very FIRST breaststroke race.  perfect form all down the lane and a first place finish, but unfortunately DQ'd for a one hand touch.  boo!!  but so proud of you for how hard you've worked to get this stroke down!!

ready for her freestyle heat!  she swam her freestyle in 35.92 and also swam in the freestyle relay.  actually that was a really good time since 2 or 3 girls false started, causing ella to think she missed the gun, jump in and race a full lap solo, then climb out of the pool, run back to the blocks and do it all over.  

at the pool early wednesday morning for team pictures

after pictures, practice, a lunch playdate with the cotters, we stopped at dairy queen (DQ) in honor of her DQ.  and then off to karate.

swim practice on thursday morning - the kiddos have had fun with "uncle" ty, who was visiting his nieces, aubrey and penelope, for the past two weeks - he kept the kids entertained at every practice and meet!

thursday night - swim meet at ventana canyon.

ella jumping in for her medley relay...

and they put her in for the breaststroke leg!

max dropped time again with his backstroke - time of 46.12.  

ella off the wall for her backstroke - she finished with a time of 34.44.

lined up together!!!  max swam his freestyle heat and ella was right behind him for her breaststroke heat.  :-)

max PR'd with his freestyle too - 41.66.  we're so proud of you buddy!!!!  he earned (we think) a first and second place standing - not sure, since as of this writing, we are still waiting on ribbons.

ella did her two-hand touch this time and finished with a time of 37.33

friday morning, we dried out and skipped practice(!!) and met up with the summer book club on mount lemmon.

after reading some books and a fun scavenger hunt, the kids had a picnic lunch and did some exploring.

followed by coldstone ice cream to celebrate thursday's awesome finishes!

LOVE this face

on saturday, after karate, we went to mom and dad's for a DELICIOUS lunch to celebrate an early father's day.

we're so lucky for the dads in our family!!

followed by a super fun family night at roadhouse cinemas to watch solo

sunday, roger left for germany for the week, so we chilled with poppie and gigi and played in the pool.  ya know.  because we hardly get any time to swim.

up where we are cold

last week was super hectic with swim practices, stuff for house (we're ready for drywall!!!), an insanely long swim meet and getting ready for our trip to seattle for alan and lauren's wedding!

swim meet number 2 under our belts and it was a disney theme

ella swimming her freestyle leg of her very first medley relay.  go ella!  go orcas!

we're looking slightly better off the blocks.  hands in first, bud, not foot.  but go max!

max swam his freestyle in 48.28 and his backstroke in 59.15 - continue shaving off those seconds!!

ella came in 2nd for backstroke with a time of 32.63 and her freestyle she swam in 32.56.  we're so proud of you!  the meet ran so late that they ended up calling the meet at 10pm and ella was bummed that she couldn't swim her last freestyle relay.  so happy you love it, els!

thursday morning, we were seattle bound!!

we arrived at our rental house on camano island (about an hour and a half north of seattle) and had plenty of room to run around with cousins - we stayed with gigi, poppie, steve, breanna, cillian, nolan, rachel and dean!

a quick - and chilly - walk on the beach before dinner our first night

cousins bonfire right before the tide came in

we relaxed on friday morning and went out for lunch

friday night, we attended the welcome dinner at cama beach state park for alan and lauren.  so much fun, albeit cold and a little rainy.

both their parents said a few words and it was a nice moment to see everyone up on the cabin porch huddled together 

so excited for uncle alan!

on saturday morning, we went back to cama beach state park for some toy boat building.

then a quick lunch together before getting ready for the wedding festivities

auntie elaine bought these fun shirts for the kiddos to wear.  loved having them all together - thanks auntie elaine!!

a toast to the soon-to-be newlyweds!!  cheers alan and lauren!

the gorgeous (sunny, and warm!) ceremony was super sweet and afterward, they took a quick paddle together.

ella twirling while waiting for family photos

such an awesome wedding filled with amazing, personal touches.  congrats guys!!!

sunday morning, before we headed to say our good-byes, a quick pic with flat gecko (the kids' school mascot) to get a spirit stick when they return in august.

we drove back to seattle and stopped [very quickly] at pike place market.  it was super crowded.

love ella's face around the stinky fish

then we met up with the o'choys at the seattle aquarium

learning about vincent the octopus (the live - and fully-numbered-limbed - version of hank)

love you cillian.  thank you for putting up with silly aunt sharyn

ahh!  they make the same pose!

...and the trip was beyond worth it for max to see harbor seals - real versions of his beloved bob-o.

he commandeered my phone and took about a thousand pictures that looked like this:

the otters are the cutest!

a well-timed lunch with entertainment courtesy of captain barnacles and kwazii from the octonauts

max wanted to go back to see the harbor seals one more time

and they had a harbor seal pelt for him to touch!

so awesome to see these faces - loved our time together and miss you already.  love our family and feel so incredibly lucky.  please come visit us soon - in the warmth of the desert.