Kearns Holiday Open {Swim Meet run-down}

***Picture Heavy...FYI***

Wednesday, December 28th
Tanner has been swimming since March...that's about 9 months.  He's come so far, and can successfully (without drowning) swim across the pool several times during workouts with the team.  His coach and I decided he was ready for a few meets, so we made the Holiday Open a priority.  This is a meet I attended YEARS ago, EVERY YEAR the week following Christmas.  Good times, I'm tellin' ya!  I was excited to see fellow swimmers and also to see him swim.

Since it was just me and him, I decided to make a date of the weekend and have some fun.  We ate dinner at Crown Burger (fond memories, but greasy, too) and walked Temple Square.  We even made it to the Visitor's Center to see the Christus.

Thursday, December 29th
Keith and Tricia were gracious to let us use their spare room to sleep in, and my little brother made the best egg salad sandwiches for our lunch that I've EVER had.

Then on our way to the meet (about a 30 minute drive across to the West Side of SLC) I got a phone call from my brother, saying a certain someone had likely taken his keys and he couldn't leave for work till he had them...so in the middle of the "spaghetti bowl"/Redwood Road/I-215/I-15 (can you tell I had NO clue where I was?) I turned around and made my way back to meet him and give him his house key (he found the others in his pocket. LOL!).

Tanner was signed up to swim the 50 backstroke and the 50 free.

He was excited and so was I...he did well, for his age, and for his ability.  Our goal was to beat splits of 2:44.00, since his 25 bk was 1:22...I haven't gotten the results back yet, but his time showed up on the clock as 1:56.81!!!  Although he was last place, he was racing against boys twice his age.  I am so proud of him!

Swimmer's Feet:  Peeling and nearly Raisin-like. 

Killing time while I decide what to do for
SIX HOURS!!!

When I told his coach we'd stick around for his next event (50 free), she informed me that he was to swim it the next day...I was planning on him swimming them both the same day then heading home, as that's what the online info stated.  So, we waited around at the pool for a while, and then I got up the courage to call my mom to see if she'd watch the little kids an extra day, and to call my little brother to see if we could crash at his house one more night.  They kindly said, "yes".  So then I had to figure out what to do for the next SIX hours, till Keith and his wife got home from work.

We settled on going to see Keith at work to pick up the house key we returned earlier.  Doh.  Then making a day of it at Thanksgiving Point.  (Now that I think about it, we could have got to Cabella's and watched the fish for FREE!  Another "Doh"!)

Regardless of our many options, Tanner really enjoyed the Museum of Ancient History with dinosaurs and 'cool stuff', as well as the Art Institute where we watched glass being blown and saw beautiful Stained Glass windows being constructed.

After 3 hours of that fun, I decided we should head back to Keith &; Tricia's to take naps and just relax.  On our way there, we ventured into IKEA.  That was a mistake!  I thought we'd just "go in and see what they had", but was forced by their marketing gurus to take a tour of the entire place...now I NEVER have to go back.  Talk about OVERWHELMING!!!  And EXHAUSTING.

Friday, December 30th
We woke up early and headed  back to the pool.  Long story short, Tanner didn't want to swim.  And Coach Denise wasn't going to 'make' him.  However, he DID decide to jump in after the other boys were about half way across the pool...

...and finished after a painfully embarrassing 2:33.20.  Um....yeah.  We won't be doing another swim meet till he's more proficient in the water.  Like maybe next October.

Needless to say, we were both so upset at each other, we drove straight from Kearns to Chesterfield in silence (without naps!  Just pure tension and silence.)  I'm not even joking.

After a quiet and contemplative drive to my parents', I loaded the car with Christmas Goodies, buckled in the boys and headed home.

Lesson to be learned:  Get over it and don't reminisce in the glory days through a stubborn six year old.  Time to move on.  

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Thank you to my mom and sisters and brothers for keeping tabs on Kortlen and Taylor.  Apparently they were 'delightful' and Kortlen 'lost' his binky, so I don't have to worry about it anymore.  YAY!  And thank you to Keith and Tricia for putting up with us two nights in a row.