Titans Scrimmage

We attempted to go to the Titans scrimmage/practice last night at Nissan stadium.  It was completely free and I can't pass up a deal like that :)  There were scattered thunderstorms in the area but we decided to try it anyway.  Unfortunately after waiting over an hour, the scrimmage finally got cancelled.

We did get some fun photos though!

Gray did NOT like the cheerleaders!

Here's a photo of us with the cheerleaders five years ago!

This may be our first photo ever with T-Rac.

Jen and her family met us at the stadium so at least the kids had friends to play with while we waited out the delay.

21 Months

Wow, this guy is 21 months old already!

I'm 100% biased, but what a cutie :)

HEAT Kids Triathlon

Carter did another triathlon yesterday morning.  This one was the HEAT Kids Tri and it was up in Hendersonville (about 45 minutes away).  Brian went to Chattanooga yesterday so I had all the boys and we left the house just after 5 am to get up there on time.  Thank goodness the boys are early risers so this wasn't too ridiculous!  There was a lot of lightning on our drive up to Hendersonsville but luckily it stayed away from the race site!

Carter catching the swim ahead of him.

This race was a great length for Carter because it had a longer run (his strong suit).  The swim was 50 yards, the bikes was 2 miles, and the run was 1 mile.  And Carter rocked it.  He placed 4th (out of 16) in the 8 year old boys division.

Running his bike through the transition.

Carter getting on his bike.

Here are his times:

Swim: 1:20 (Rank - 3rd)
Transition #1: 1:39 (Rank - 2nd)
Bike: 10:57 (Rank - 7th)
Transition #2: 0:23 (Rank - 2nd)
Run: 9:10 (Rank - 3rd)

Total: 23:32

Starting the run after coming out of transition.

Go, Carter!

Carter's "cheering" section!

We are so proud of this awesome triathlete!  One of these days he's going to place too (he's so disappointed every time when he doesn't but he is one of the youngest in his age group with his mid-November birthday).

Carter started sprinting when he was close to the finish.

Look at the agony on his face!

Done!

This race was run really well and we hope that Carter (and maybe Rylan?!?) can do it next year.  They also secured enough donations that all the kids got door prizes.  They did the door prizes before the awards ceremony and when a kid's name was called, they got to pick from 3 random prizes put on a table.  It took almost an hour but the kids were really happy to all get something.  Carter got a mini-basketball.

Honorable Mention

Friday night was the Grand Showcase for the art camp Carter did at O'More this summer.   Each student got to submit one piece of art from each class that they took.  Carter did the drawing styles class but there were classes on photography, fashion design, clay, paper design, architecture, jewelry making, and so much more.

Several awards were given out (I'm not sure if it was one set of awards per camp session but only a small percentage of the pieces got awards).

Carter got Honorable Mention for the piece he submitted!

His piece is the self portrait with the hat.  After explaining what honorable mention is, Carter was very excited :)

First Day of Second Grade

Carter started second grade today!  The kids have a half day so they are done at noon.  Kindergarten has a staggered start so Rylan starts on Thursday of next week.

Carter is super excited about school.  He's in Mrs. Fitch's class.  She taught first grade last year and since she got moved up a grade, she is keeping her same class from last year.  However, a couple of kids moved so a few kids got added to her class, including Carter.  Also added was Whit.  Charlie (his twin) was already in that class and his mom wanted them together.  Charlie and Whit were in Carter's kindergarten class and have played on his soccer team for four seasons now.  Clovercroft had their Meet & Greet last night and we saw that Carter is sitting across from Jett (who was in his kindergarten class).  Carter and I are both looking forward to an awesome year!

Rock Climbing

Rylan FINALLY wanted to try the rock wall at Pump It Up a couple of weeks ago.  AND he made it to the top on his first try!!!  It's not technically all that hard, but a little intimidating for a 6-year-old!

Tennis Lessons

Rylan has been asking for several months to take tennis lessons.  I was trying to fit it into our crazy sports schedule during the school year but could never make it work.  So this summer I signed both Rylan and Carter up for lessons through the Williamson County Rec Center.  There are several indoor courts at the Indoor Sports Complex so the summer heat didn't matter - yay!

Reed (Jen's son) did the class with my boys and today was the last one.

(We took Reed to class today and the boys found the sweatband stash from my dad before leaving the house!)

Rylan loved the class.  Carter said he didn't like it but was always did great.  There were 2 instructors and 8 kids in our session.  Both instructors commented that Rylan and Carter were super athletes :)

Rylan would like to continue with tennis but the only option for the fall would be Friday afternoons and that is the ONLY day we don't have soccer or baseball practice or games.  The boys need one recovery day!  I'm sure Rylan will do lessons again though at some point!

Back from the Beach

We just got back from a week at the beach!  More to come soon ...

Gray's First Movie

Jen and I took our kids to see The Secret Life of Pets on Tuesday afternoon.  I was a little nervous how Gray would do but he's the same age that Carter was when he went to the movie theater for the first time.

Gray did awesome!  He was a pro at relaxing and eating popcorn.  He only started to get antsy and out of his seat the last 15 minutes of the movie.

He figured out that the movie was also "playing" behind us and was amazed looking back and forth!  He may only say a few words but he's pretty smart - he just doesn't want to share it with us yet :)

County Championship Swim Meet

Rylan and Carter competed in the Williamson County Championship Swim Meet this weekend.

Rylan's meet was on Friday afternoon and Carter's was on Saturday morning at the Indoor Sports Complex (which is part of Williamson County Parks & Rec).  Both boys did great!  They both improved their times and we couldn't be prouder of how they did this season.  Rylan is now a true swimmer.  It's amazing how far he's come in a couple of months. These boys went to practice every single day and were excited to go.  They never once complained.  

Rylan swam the individual freestyle and backstroke events as well as the freestyle relay.  Our team is still pretty small (it's only the second summer this pool has been open - I think we had around 150 swimmers).  We were lucky to find four 6 & under boys to make a relay!  One kid had refused to swim the individual events before the relay (luckily he swam the relay) and another is super, super slow.  But they did it!

Here are Rylan's times for the meet:

Freestyle: 34.90 seconds, 32nd place (best time by 2.27 seconds)
Backstroke: 34.48 seconds, 15th place (best time by 1.57 seconds)
Freestyle Relay: 03:18:46, 4th place

As far as awards go for this meet, for individual events, the kids get medals for 1st - 8th place and ribbons for 9th - 16th place.  For relay events, they get medals for 1st - 8th place.  Trophies are given to the top eight high point winners.  Also, all 6 & under swimmers get a participation medal.

Rylan was very excited to get two medals and a ribbon!

I still can't believe Rylan got 15th in backstroke for the whole county!!!  I'm so proud :)

Carter also got his best times of the season.  Unfortunately (as expected), the stroke and turn judges were strict and Carter DQ'd in breast and fly.  His medley relay team also DQ'd (not sure for what though).  Hopefully Carter will get those two strokes down at the beginning of next season.  I don't 100% understand the breaststroke kick and I think that is Carter's issue still.  I believe he may have gotten DQ'd in fly for non-simultaneous arms.  But he's trying and I'm super proud of him for that!  I know he gets frustrated though and I wish I could help him more!

Here are Carter's times for the meet:

Freestyle: 26.47 seconds, 60th place (best time by 1.61 seconds)
Backstroke: 27.92 seconds, 38th place (best time by 0.49 seconds)
Breaststroke: DQ

Butterfly: DQ

Freestyle Relay: 01:43:82, 7th place
Medley Relay: DQ

Carter's freestyle relay team also received a medal!

Rylan still has one more year in 6 & under and Carter still has one more year in the 7-8 age group.  So they should technically both have better seasons next year since they will be older in these same age groups.

On Sunday our team had their end-of-season pool party.  It was fun for the kids to have a couple of hours of free time to swim with their buddies!

We loved this team and will definitely be swimming with them again next summer.  Coach Jim is extremely positive and encouraging to these kids.  He includes everyone, no matter how good they are (we still had some at the end of the season that couldn't swim the length of the pool because they were too scared to try).  He hires a ton of coaches and has just as many volunteer coaches who work with the youngest kids one-on-one.  

We are already really missing our morning swim time!!!  Even Gray and me!!!