A Saturday of Swimming

I'm blogging as Alyson, but this is really Adam. I want to thank Mom and Dad for spending many a Saturday at wrestling meets with me and Derek and Tyson. What an ordeal. Now, imagine being in a 100% humidity environment for an entire Saturday. That's what we did today. Preston had his 1st ever swim meet! We were so proud of him! He put forth a great effort! He made me laugh out loud. He started out very strong on his 25 freestyle and was right up there with the rest of the field until he needed to breathe. He suddenly stopped his stroke, had his left arm straight out in front of him and took three long breaths before starting back on his stroke. I was perplexed. When he got out of the water with a huge grin, we all gave him hugs, told him how proud we were of him, etc. When we were talking a little later I said, "Preston, why did you take those breaths during your swim?" He said, "Dad, you told me to take only a few breaths during the race, I only took three!" I said, "Preston, you took 3 breaths, 3 times during the race." He said, "Dad, 3 breaths is like this (he then showed me how to breathe in and out 3 times), that's what I did!" Boy, was I dumb! He also did the 25 backstroke, and the 25 breast stroke. He came out smiling on every one of them. His smile faded quickly when he was disqualified in his breast stroke because he did a flutter kick, but he bounced back quickly. Connor then did great in his 2 events, the 50 free and the 100 back. Connor reminded me of myself when he started crying due to anxiety prior to his first event. Connor took 3rd and 2nd respectively. I still don't want to do this every Saturday, but I have to believe it is good for kids to compete like this. They both want to do it again ASAP and they both are improving every time.

Cami, we started our fast for your family and Alec. Our thoughts and prayers are truly with you!
We Love You!