Conference Meet 2023

 Yesterday was Conference meet at Heather Farms.  The kids did well.  They all finaled in free and fly.  

Hanna's events and times were

25 free, 22.03, 5th

25 fly, 30.56, 11th

100 yard medley relay, free, 1:43.99, 1st.  Broke the record!  

Parker swam well.  He put up quite a fight to not swim finals.  In the end he did, though his prelims times were better.  They were:

25 free, 17.9, 20th

25 fly, 21.79, 17th

Kira dropped time in all her events.

50 free: 26.63, 3rd

50 fly, 32.47, 11th

100 IM, 1:14.78, 10th

Scott continued his Far Westerns long course meet at Cowell.  

400 meter medley relay, free, 52.16 split, 3:58.85 overall, 1st.    

Blurry shot of the ice bath

Far Westerns

 Scott is swimming Far Westerns this weekend.  Tonight was the 200 meter free relay.  Scott led off.  He split 24.00.  Junior Nationals cut is 23.99.  I know the bottom photo isn't that great but it shows how far ahead he was.  Their relay got 1st by at least five seconds.  

He also did the 100 meter free and got 1st with 53.32.  

He also did the 200 meter medley relay, freestyle, 23.34 split, 1:49.36 overall, 3rd.  

Tomorrow we have Conference meet.  It will be long and hot.  Okay, bye.  

WST at Larkey Sharks and Danville Sea Devils at WST

I paid Tyler $20 to pressure wash the front brick.  He was not happy that 30 minutes of work fetched only $20.  

On Wednesday we swam at Larkey against the Sharks.  Hanna got county in breast!  Her events and times were

100 yard medley relay, back, 1:57.78, 3rd

25 breast 31.83, 3rd

25 back, 27.88, 1st

On Saturday we swam at home against the Danville Sea Devils.  Hanna's events and times were

100 medley relay, 1:43.16, 1st

25 free, 25.64, 8th

25 back, 29.96, 4th

100 free relay, 1:34.85, 2nd

Kira's events and times at Larkey were

200 yard medley relay, free, 2:11.69, 1st

50 free, 28.36, 2nd

50 back, 35.06, 3rd.

Her events and times at home were

200 yard medley relay, free, 2:12.37, 1st

50 free, 28.35, 1st

50 breast, 40.08, 2nd

200 yard free relay, 1:59.70, 1st

Parker's events and times at Larkey were 

25 free, 18.18, 10th

25 back, 25.29, 13th

Parker's events and times at home were

25 free, 18.99, 9th

25 fly, 26.55, 9th

100 free relay, 1:18.52, 4th.

Blake's events and times at Larkey were 

100 yard IM, 1:19.34, exh

50 free, 30.66, exh

50 back, 38.20, exh.

Blake's events and times at home were

100 IM, 1:20.04

50 free, 30.37, exh

50 fly, 34.92, exh

Despite the effort I put into preparing snacks and meals, Parker is the most demanding of food from the snack shack.  Lately this boba place has been poaching our niche and Parker got the grossest drink ever.  I still made him and Hanna smile for the picture.  Yuck, boba.  

Heidi does not think it worthwhile that I update the kids' times for each meet because she thinks no one cares.  In the words of Luke Skywalker, "I care."  

Woodlands Invitational

 Yesterday and today were the Woodlands Invitational, a big meet that takes the top three swimmers from each club.  There are 9-11 clubs that participate.  It is a huge deal, the biggest fundraiser of the season.  Hanna and Kira qualified, Parker and Tyler didn't.  I sang the national anthem to kick off the meet.

Hanna's events and times were:

25 yard free:  23.84, 12th  She finaled but went 26.05 in finals.

25 yard breast:  32.32, 13th

100 yard medley relay, back, 1:46.89, 1st.  

Kira's events and times were:

50 yard free, 28.86, 19th.

200 yard medley relay, free, 2:08.94, 7th.  

It was over 100 degrees but I think everyone had a good time.  Our snack shack was bussin'.

Tattoos and bead braids

Our kids didn't swim today but Kira, Parker and Hanna wanted to see whether they'd won the raffle.  Hanna won a Minnie Mouse beauty kit which she was excited about.  

Okay, bye.  

WST @ Dewing Park

The kids did well at the Dewing Park meet.  The pool was only five lanes, there were multiple equipment failures, and the meet was taking so long that they canceled all the free relays.  Parker didn't want to swim but came anyway and actually swam!  Dropped time in most of his events.  

100 yard medley relay, free, 1:36.53, exhibition

25 yard free, 19.71, 9th

25 back, 24.00, 4th.

Hanna did well.  Dropped lots of time!

100 medley relay, back, 1:55.44, 1st

25 breast, 33.13, 2nd

25 back, 28.10, 2nd

Kira did the 200 yard medley relay, free, 2:13.00,  1st

50 free, 29.16, 1st

50 fly, 35.73, 4th

Tyler was tired of the mullet and opted for a buzz cut.  I think the mullet looked better but we all realized there's nothing irreversible about hair

Kira rises too high out of the water on butterfly but has a lot of upper body strength to compensate.  

Blake swam exhibition and did well.  His stroke is long and efficient.   

50 free, 30.59, 1st

The weather was cold.  I brought a hoodie but needed the blanket until mid-morning.  We got slurpees at 7-11, ice cream sundaes, hot dogs, and pizza at costco.  A good day.  
 

Annual McMillan Family Reunion, 2023

This year we went to the northern Oregon coast for our family reunion.  We left on Friday night, drove until 3:00 am, then spent the night in the van in a rest stop.  Our plan was to stay in a hotel near Eugene but there were no vacancies so we drove until we couldn't drive anymore.  The kids and I slept until 8:00 am!  Then it was breakfast at Denny's.  We got too much food.

We found a kids outdoor education center like Heidi wants to build at Vecna's.  The laws in OR are much looser than those of CA.  Heidi realized she can build a low-budget center at Vecna's.

Next it was a trip to the Portland temple for baptisms for the dead.  

Went to church in Astoria, where the Goonies was filmed.  Our party tripled the primary.  

We camped at Fort Stevens.  There were hot showers.  The climate was pretty cold though.  I should have layered up more but at least I had long pants and a jacket.  

The kids really liked this freshwater lake.  Adam brought his paddle boards and kayaks

A lighthouse at the Lewis and Clark information center.  The kids weren't much into the museum.  

My favorite activity was the column, a lighthouse in Astoria without the light.  It was about 150 feet tall and you could see quite a bit of the valley.  

The gift shop sold these gliders but it had closed for the day.  The kids scavenged about 50 planes from the bushes and would throw them off.  Some logged over 45 seconds of flight time before disappearing in the trees.

The view from the column of the Columbia river with Adam's motorhome in the foreground

On July 4th we went to two beaches.  The first was real nice with these tide pools.  Parker was way into the wildlife.  

Then the itinerary directed us to another beach which was cold and windy.  The kids made the most of it though.  

The kids enjoyed being with their cousins.  I liked the trees in Oregon.  The drive was excessive though.  I'm glad to be home.