Archie recently moved up to the DTAC swim team which is a USA Sanctioned team. It really doesn't mean too much different except for it costs more and he can now get disqualified in his races if he doesn't do something correctly in his strokes. They do practice a little bit more and focus more on building their competative edge rather than just getting the stroke right. His first meet was last Sat. He swam the 50 Free and 25 Fly. He also got to swim the 100 Free and 100 Medley Relays, both of which his foursome broke the team records from back in 2001 -- the Medley by 2 seconds and the Free by 11 second!! That was awesome.
He also started his new season of basketball. They have a bunch of their old teammates back together and they are really improving as a group. Yesterday, they got to play their game full court which they all thought was pretty cool -- little did they know that it was actually harder! Archie is a great team player and of course, has a slight advantage with his height -- I just measured him today and he is 4' 8". I'm only 5' 4" so it won't be too much longer before I look up to him!
Sam is playing both his baseball and basketball. He still loves anything with a ball -- he spends most of his time either on the driveway with Martin or in the house on the DS. His baseball is coming along although Daddy is still a little frustrated. He smacks the heck out of the ball at home and at practice, but at game time he is a little bit more reserved. He has a great arm and can fire it at Daddy. We have to remember that he is still only 6 and has plenty of time to work out his kinks. He also has learned how much fun it is to chew bubble gum while you are playing!!
At basketball, Sam's team is also finally working together better. Sam is working on shooting his layups rather than driving down and just shooting from the outside.
School is good for both boys. Sammy has a more strict teacher this year which he really responds well to and Archie has the more fun teacher. Sam always says it isn't fair, but doesn't realize how much harder Archie's work is.
And last, but definitely not least, Alice is keeping herself busy with gymnastics, dancing, swimming, school and her BFF's. She is definitely a girly girl these days -- loves pink, dresses, purses, and doesn't care for boys unless they are "her boys"...i.e. Archie, Sammy, Daddy, or Elvis! Her most commonly said thing these days is "Mommy, we both girls. Daddy is a boy."
Her vocabulary has increased dramatically over the last few months. She recently went through a severe case of the "Whys", but that seems to have subsided some -- my typical answer was because the sky is blue which would suffice for almost any question.
She goes to school 2 days a week with Ms. O'Donnell. It is a very creative class -- the same school that Sam went -- and I think it has gotten better than when he was there. I ride her over there in the bike trailer which she loves. Her class has only 3 girls in it which is a change from last year where her class only had 1 boy.
Alice is still growing as well although it is like a snail! She is now 37 1/2 inches and a little over 29 lbs. I'm working on her!
Daddy and I have been obviously keeping busy by keeping up with the kids activities and we are totally enjoying it all! It is fun to see them so active and enjoying what they do.
Hasta La Vista!
Alice wrote her name for the very first time all by herself -- the L is upside down.
I'm wondering if Alice is practicing to be a great shopper or a bag lady -- she LOVES her "things"!
