Proud Grandparents

We think being grandparents might be even better than being parents. There is the advantage that you can enjoy them when you want, then send them home when you are tired. Plus, you don't have to pay their bills unless you really want to. As they grow up, we are seeing that we can enjoy their achievements without spending all the time and energy it takes to help them accomplish them.

We just received photos of our two Colorado grandchildren.

Following Her Dream

We came to Texas to watch our oldest granddaughter Kylie follow her dream in the National Swimming Competition West, held at Texas A & M in College Station. Now a high school junior, I think she was 5 when we took her to her regular swimming lesson. (Her Mom was in the hospital after the birth of her brother.) Since then we have been to numerous swim meets. Our RV travels and winters in Arizona have limited that in recent years but this is the second year we have attended the national competition--also referred to as the Junior Olympics.

We arrived on campus a day before Kylie and checked our where the swimming would be held. These were the signs on the door where she would go in. We had to look further to find the public entrance.

We saw the calm before the storm. I don't know how many competitors there were in the event, but in the women's 200 backstroke event on Saturday morning, Kylie was one of 128 contestants. In the 100 freestyle she was one of 160 swimmers. And that is only the women. There was also competition for the junior men (under age 19, I think.)

In three days Kylie competed in 8 events--freestyle, back and butterfly in different distances and two relays with teammates from Colorado. Preliminary competition is in the morning. The top 24 in each event return for finals in the evening.

Friday Kylie was in the 100 fly.  Here you can see her with her hands on her hips wearing the dark blue swim cap. 

She placed #1 in her heat but overall only 43rd.  Talk about competition!

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Saturday one of her events was the 100 freestyle.   She placed second in her heat and 20th in the competition meaning she would be in the finals that evening.We were delighted to return to the pool to watch the finals. Competing at this level is serious business.  It was interesting to watch this 17 year old's face as she waited her turn to swim.

Thinking about what her coach is telling her.

Talking to her friends.

Thinking

Ooh, what is going to happen?

I'm going to go do my best.

I did it!  Before the race Kylie ranked 58 based on her previous times; she was 20th after the prelims and 18th in the finals.  Great job girl!

We left after that race.  Here we are with Kylie and her dad, our son Eric.

Isn't it fun to be a grandparent? Good job, Kylie!

So, What Is It?

Ever hear of a Harvey Wallbanger? I had heard the term, but didn't know what it referred to. I assumed it might be a restaurant. Today we went to Harvey Washbangers so I had to look up Wallbanger to see what it referred to--it is a drink with vodka and orange juice and the Italian liqueur Galliano. Who knew that?

Harvey Washbangers is something else again--a combination laundromat and bar and grill in College Station, Texas. Sounds like a college town thing, doesn't it?

This sign tells you about Harvey Washbangers.

Just look at all the washers and dryers.

And why are we at a laundromat? Usually the RV parks we stay in have laundry facilities. But for 5 nights we are in a parking lot at Texas A & M University in College Station. Our granddaughter Kylie is swimming in the USA Swimming National Championships, the Junior Olympics, this week. Last year we rode Amtrak to the event in Austin at the University of Texas. This year we decided to bring our new, smaller RV and stay in it. This is where we are parked.

Family Comes to Visit

A week ago, our son Eric and his wife Liz and son John drove down from Littleton to visit for four days. Since they had driven a long way on Friday after school and Saturday from Albuquerque to here, we didn't do two much Saturday afternoon. We did go for a walk around the resort. Grandson John didn't walk, he rode his hoverboard.

Sunday, after attending Palm Sunday worship at Epiphany Episcopal Church, we stopped by the Mesa Swap Meet. Our visitors enjoyed see everything that was offered there, but very few purchases were made. In preparation for deals too good to pass up, we made a stop at the ATM for some cash.

Everybody else thought I looked good in this hat, but since I didn't agree, I didn't buy it.

Granddaughter Kylie didn't come with her parents. She was in Federal Way, Washington, swimming in the Speedo Sectional Swim Meet. She swam well, reaching the finals in all 6 individual events she participated in and recording 5 personal best times. Monday, she flew in to Phoenix to join the family. In two of the events, she was awarded medals--meaning she was one of the eight best swimmers out of 100+ entered in those events. Look how proud she is of those medals. We are proud, too!
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Kylie has asked to be able to have her nose pierced as her 16th birthday present. Her parents said yes in November when she turned 16. But she waited until her Spring vacation, when she has two weeks off from swim practice, to accomplish it. So Monday afternoon, the family visited a tattoo parlor (that is where piercing of the body--other than ears--is done. Her grandparents didn't come along, but it really doesn't look offensive, does it?  She looks kind of cute.

We weren't aware of all that goes along with being a competitive athlete. Colleges are very interested! The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has strict rules of allowable contact between colleges and high school athletes. Kylie is only a sophomore so she can ask to visit schools, they can not contact her or her family. Within the next year, first the schools can make contact with family, followed by contact with the athlete by letter or email. Not until the senior year can the college invite a student athlete to come to the school for an official visit. And the athlete can only accept five such invitations. Since neither John nor I, nor our sons, were outstanding in sports, we had never known about these rules. The next two plus years will be interesting.

Kylie and her family have a good friend who swam in college and knows about the swimming program at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He urged them to go there for a visit. They contacted the school and arranged to meet with the swim coach staff, observe the swim team practicing, and and tour the school on Tuesday. Kylie was very interested and bought this shirt from U of A. Bear Down is the motto of the school.

We all tried some bocce ball.

We went to Organ Stop Pizza for dinner and the concert. Everybody loved the evening! Look at these three good looking members of Eric's family.

We also had relaxing time, just sitting around and talking.

We had a great time with our family. It is good to spend our winters in a favorite Spring Vacation destination for younger families. What fun we had!

More to be Proud Of

I've posted before about our granddaughter Kylie and what a wonderful swimmer she it. Last weekend, she competed in a high school swim meet in the south Denver suburban area. We are so proud of her. She set two pool records with her swims, placing first in those events.

The LittletonIndependent web site posted a story about the meet this week and here is the part of the story by Jim Benton that talks about Kylie. She is not only excellent at swimming, she is a real team player and a humble person.


It took her a bit, but Heritage sophomore Kylie Andrews finally admitted she performed well in the Smoky Hill Invitational girls swim meet on Jan. 16.

Heritage won the meet with 483 points to finish ahead of host Smoky Hill and Chaparral, which finished third. Legend was fourth, Douglas County/Castle View eighth and Ponderosa 13.

Andrews set pool records in winning the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke. She swam a 55.91 to better the butterfly meet record of 56.07 set by Heritage's Shelly Patton in 2012.

In the 100 backstroke, her time of 56.03 snapped her own meet record of 57.39 set last season. Andrews also holds the meet record of 52.33 in the 100 freestyle, but she didn't swim in that event this season.

She also contributed on relay teams. CJ Mitchell, Andrews, Marissa Kiefer and Katherine Harston won the 400-freestyle relay in 3:40.59. Andrews also swam on the 200-medley relay team, which placed second.

“My team did really good and all my competitors in my races, my opponents, did really well,” said Andrews. “And I feel like I had a pretty good races.

“Right now I feel real good with how I'm doing. There is always room for improvement. There were just good vibes for this meet, and everyone did really well. I like all the events I swim except for really breaststroke.”

A Good Day

After our tense and exciting morning at the swim meet, Kylie spent the afternoon taking a nap and doing homework. We did a little shopping and picked up a Subway for lunch. We returned to the University of Texas campus and the swimming area in time for the evening finals competition. After watching the final heats of the men's and women's 1650 yard (that is one mile, imagine!), competition, it was time for the 200 yard back men's and women's race.

It is special and somewhat unusual for a swimmer on their first time in the Junior Nationals to reach the finals. We are so proud of Kylie for doing that. She swam in the second of three heats. She didn't come first, second or third, but she did well and we were all proud of her. She felt good about the race. Her time in this event has placed her 12th in all junior women in the Western US.

We went to dinner at Pei Wei with Kylie, Liz and her coach Bill to celebrate her accomplishments.

We are so glad our lifestyle allows us to do things like this. When we decided to travel full time and even long times in our RV, what we gave up was the daily or at least weekly contact with our son and his family in Colorado. Being able to attend events like this make up for part of that loss.

What a Morning!

We were all really biting our fingernails or sweating or tense. Kylie was in the preliminary race in 200 yd backstroke. The competition included 107 young women under the age of 18 and she was seeded 29. Finally, it was about time for her heat--#11 of 14. We learned yesterday that the slowest swimmers go in the early heats, each one getting faster.

Finally, she lined up behind lane 3.

It is fun to watch her jump into the pool, since swimmers begin the backstroke from in the pool. Look at her legs curled up under her as she hops into the water.

At the end of her heat, she was in second place--how exciting!

Remember, I said each heat got faster.  After the next heat she had moved down to 7th.

After the next heat, she placed 12.

And here are the final results.  She placed 15. What a relief!  The top 24 get to swim in the finals.  Kylie will be in the second heat of three.  We are nervously waiting.

The Competition Begins

Finally. The Junior Nationals Swimming in Austin has begun. Today was the first day of competition. Our granddaughter, Kylie, had only one event--time trials in the 50 freestyle. She didn't qualify for the competition here in the 50 free, but this time trial allows Kylie to try for a good time in the event. Competition at this level is all about times. Swimmers don't progress by winning lower level meets. They get here by having times that are good enough to qualify.  That time is always their highest best time in each event.

Kylie is the only member of her Colorado team to qualify for this meet.  On Tuesday, she attended classes before leaving for the airport.  When she went out to her car in the morning, her swim team members had decorated her car to support her.

She showed us her suit.

Then her mom bought her a sweatshirt from this meet. She has one from every competition above the state level that she has participated in. Here is the front, as well as symbols on the sleeves--# (hashtag) free, back, fly and swim. She will be swimming in freestyle, back stroke and butterfly events.

From the stands, we watched her walk to the poolside with her coach, Bill.

We watched her take off her sweatshirt and stretch, then get ready to dive in the pool.

And they're off!

Less than 30 seconds later, Kylie came in second in this heat. The best news is, she improved on her previous best time.

Her coach then escorted her off the pool deck, giving her pointers to improve future times.

All Aboard for Austin

Sunday we drove to Tucson before boarding Amtrak for our travel to Austin for the Junior National Swimming competition.  Our granddaughter Kylie will be competing there later this week.

We checked into the Best Western Royal Sun for the night.

  Then we located the Amtrak station, discovering that was far enough from our motel we would need a taxi to get there with our bags.  Since we are returning to the same motel on the 15th, we are able to park our truck here for free while we are gone.
This old Southern Pacific engine is on display at the station, as well as this statue.

We ate dinner at the Royal Sun Restaurant—John’s steak Diane was very  good, my golden fried cod and french fries were overcooked and flavorless.  Our free breakfasts this morning were both very good.
Our taxi driver Jose picked us up just before 8, we were able to board the train about 8:30, and we are off to Austin.

We are looking forward to a great week of travel and adventure and grandparent fun.