Hogwarts Pool Party

Aidan chose a Harry Potter theme for his birthday party this year. My boy is still obsessed with all things Hogwarts. I think he secretly believes that he will receive a missive from Hogwarts on his eleventh birthday, just like Harry, but for now a pool party with spells and chocolate frogs will have to do.

The boys went crazy in the pool, keeping the noise level at a dull roar. Into the mix of swimming, they had battles of spells, yelling out spell names from the Harry Potter books, as they attempted to freeze each other or turn each other into slugs. I am not sure that pizza logs qualified as Hogwarts-style food, but we did have golden snitch cupcakes and Butter Beer to go. If only I could have managed to enchant the chocolate frogs. Maybe next year.

Discovering Tennis

Yes, I love tennis. I adore tennis. In fact, I may be a bit obsessed with tennis. (There are worse things I could be obsessed with. Like chocolate cake, perhaps. Well, I am sort of obsessed with that too. And Glee. And the Glee Project. I digress.)

The boys all did tennis lessons this summer as part of a new tennis development program. Aidan also asked if he could try the tennis team. He is a little young for tennis team and a tad bit inexperienced, but I spoke with the coaches (who are also my coaches!) and they said he could try it out to see if it is a good fit.

It was a great fit. He loves it. It is the most excitement I have seen from him since well, he discovered Harry Potter. He actually started carrying his tennis racket around the house with him and sleeping with it next to him. He never complained about a tennis practice, always ready to get out the door to be the first one there.

As part of tennis team, he not only had daily practices, but he had matches twice a week. As one of the youngest players on the team, he was playing against kids that were ten or eleven and had been playing tennis for a year or two. But he held his own. When he played his first match, he lost 6-0. By the end of the season, he was giving his opponent's a tough match, fighting his way to much closer scores. Yes, he still lost. But, as I reminded him, I lost every single match I played my first season too. Losing is a good thing when you are learning the game, particularly if you discover a love for the game.


He loves the game! And I love that he loves the game!

After the first few weeks of practices, one of the coaches too me aside and told me that Aidan had become a real positive influence on the team. He is always there to give words of encouragement to the other players and help his teammates. I was unbearably proud of Aidan. Even more so, when at the tennis team banquet, Aidan was awarded one of the four awards for exemplary sportsmanship.

I thought he would burst from excitement over his special trophy.


Aidan has already asked if he can continue tennis lessons in the off season. I was too happy to tell him yes. I love that he has found something he loves that we can also enjoy together. Next year, Brennan wants to try tennis team. I see a trend starting for our family... A very good trend indeed.

End of Summer Implosion

We start the summer with overwhelming possibility. The sun! The pool! Swim team! Tennis team! Tennis lessons! Golf camp! Lacrosse camp! Biking! Outdoor play time! In Buffalo, we soak up the summer months with abandon knowing that in a few short months we will be buried under a foot of snow.

And then we hit mid-August. The camps are done. The summer activities have wound down. The boys are bored with their normal outdoor pursuits and to be honest, I think they are all a little sick of each other. (Note to self: next year find a camp for August that separates them, at least for a few hours a day.)

A few days ago, I was tired of the bickering and yelling so I sent them outside to play for a few moments of peace while I prepared dinner. After five minutes of relative quiet, I heard screaming and crying coming from the side of the house. Griffin ran to the backdoor and yelled, "Mom you have to come now! I think Brennan broke his leg!"

I dashed outside, following Griffin to where Brennan lay on the grass, clutching his leg, screaming bloody murder at full volume. Aidan stood next to him looking surprisingly guilty.

It took me a good five minutes to calm Brennan down, get him ice and assure him his leg was not in fact broken.

"How did you fall anyway B?" I asked as I checked his leg.

"I fell off the basketball net." He said, hiding his eyes from me.

What? Apparently, the boys took the old Fisher-Price Grow to Pro toddler basketball set out of the garbage, laid it on its side and used its base and pole as a balance beam. But not just a balance beam would work for these boys of mine! Oh no. To make it extra interesting, one boy tried to balance his way across the basketball balance beam while the other boys shook it back and forth, trying to shake him off.

"Seriously?!" I asked, looking at all three of them, their eyes gazing at me sheepishly.

"You have a swing set and tree house! A sand box! You have scooters! Bikes! Hockey nets and soccer balls. You could play tag or hide n seek. There are a million and one things you could play! And this is what you guys come up with?"

This is the day I started counting the number of days until they go back to school. And it is still too many,

Swim Banquet 2011

The boys love the swim team banquet because it equals a trophy. (Well, a trophy and an all you can eat sundae bar.) While Aidan and Brennan already have their swim team awards decorating their room, Griffin was thrilled to finally, (FINALLY) get a trophy of his own.

Not only did Griffin bring home his trophy, but he was also awarded a special award by his Coach Megan. Griffin was honored with the very special "Hi Mom" award for always stopping during his swim to look up at his mom and give her a big smile. The Coach said it melted her heart every single time. I know it melted mine.

Brennan received an award for Most Improved Boy. He shaved almost six seconds off his personal best time for the 25 yard freestyle. He also won a nice bunch of ribbons and a medal for his relay's third place finish.

Aidan also grabbed a nice hunk of ribbons for his swimming times. His favorite award was his medal for his relay's third place finish in their age group. He swam with three of his swim buddies, otherwise known as "the dream team."

It is with great sadness, that we can now pack up the speedos and goggles until Summer 2012. The summer swim season has officially concluded. Until next year!

Wrapping Up the Swim Season

Summer swim season. It is six weeks of intense pool time. Daily swim practices and swim lessons. Weekly swim meets against other swim teams. And it all wraps up with a swim championship - one pool, five swim teams, and a million and one kiddies sporting speedos.

My boys love swim team. They love all six weeks of their swim team experience. They form such bonds with their coaches and their team mates. And it never fails that when it is over, they all shed a tear because it just went too fast.

The last meet of the season is the swim championships. It is like one giant, chaotic swim crazed party. The kids chant and cheer, dress up in their team colors and even dye their hair to match. (I was grateful the boys avoided the green hair dye going around our team's tent.) The teams start the championship with a parade of teams. Each team is introduced to the spectators at the pool during the parade and are given a moment in the spotlight to parade around the pool to the song of their choice. The other teams danced their way into the pool to various pop songs. Our team marched and danced into the pool at the hip sounds of Eye of the Tiger. I laughed for a good ten minutes after watching their darling college age coaches rock out the kids old school style. It was quite a sight.

After the last race has been swam, the kids retreat to their home pool for a pizza party and night swim. The boys love the chance to swim at the pool after hours and way, way past their bedtime.

It is one of the longest days of the summer, but the boys love every single second of it. It breaks my heart to see them cry at the knowledge that it is over until next year, but it brings me such joy to know how much they have enjoyed it, how much they have grown and how much they have learned.

The Vampire

Each night, I spend a few minutes alone with each of my boys snuggling in bed. I had finished up snuggles with Griffin and was in Brennan's room, when Griffin burst into the room.

"Brennan! It's loose! Look!" Griffin exclaims with excitement as he wiggles one of his teeth back and forth.

"You're right! It is!" Brennan replies in confirmation.

Griffin nods. "Maybe I'm not a vampire after all."

"G, time to go to bed. Back to bed!" I order, but after he leaves the vampire comment strikes me and I turn to Brennan to ask, "What did he mean about the vampire thing B?"

"Oh, Griffin has very long canine teeth Momma. Haven't you noticed?" B says.

I shake my head no as Brennan continues, "And no one else in the family has such long canine teeth. Except, let me see your teeth!"

I open my mouth for Brennan's inspection. He nods his head in affirmation.

"Yeah, see, you don't have such long canine teeth. Just Griffin. So we think that maybe he could be a vampire. Except now, if the canine vampire teeth come out, maybe he isn't?"

I had nothing to say. I've got a four year old vampire with an exceptionally large vocabularly living in my house. It's like Twilight for the preschool set.