A weekend in Annapolis

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about Bub's big swim meet in Annapolis!  We've been home for 5 days and I'm just now finding the time to upload my photos and collect my thoughts... yikes!  (As a quick aside, a couple weeks ago I read in an online devotion that "activity is the virus of December," and wow, how true it is.  No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to avoid the fray.  As Leslie reminded me the other day, tons of extra activities are vying for our attention this time of year, but none are ever removed from our schedule in the process.  So, my before-Christmas Day-arrives to-do-list continues to run a mile long, and the merry-go-round I'm riding simply refuses to slow down.  I'm told it will... eventually.  Until then, I guess I'll just hold on by my fingernails and survive on caffeine!)

So, back to the reason for this post... last weekend Bub competed in a very prestigious swim meet at the Naval Academy.  Teams gathered from all over the mid-Atlantic states, and one even traveled south from Toronto.  The level of competition was greater than any Bub's ever experienced, but was he dismayed or intimidated or scared, even just a tiny bit?  Nope.  Nada.  Goose eggs.  For three solid days he raced and he raced and he gave everything he had, and you know what?  

I am very, very proud of that big guy~

As for the results... Bub almost made it to the finals in 2 events, the 50 yd freestyle and the 50 yd butterfly.  [He came in 9th in 1 race (out of 50 or so) and 10th in the other.  Unfortunately, only the 8 fastest proceed on to the finals.]  He also dropped some serious time in several of his events (including that 50 fly), and in 2 of them he swam fast enough to receive an "A" time.  And what's so magical about those "A" times?  They qualify him to swim at the Age-Group Championships this March! (I think he has 5 so far.)

All in all, it was a fantabulous weekend! Grandmom & Pops drove up with us on Friday (the boys loved hotel life), Granmoggie & Poppa journeyed in from S. Dakota, Leslie and her girls came up on Saturday, and cousin Beth joined our ranks on Saturday, along with Francie & Betty Stuart.  I think Bub had the largest cheering section there! 

Here's a glimpse of the pool during warm-ups:

 And this is Coach Bob.  He's the best-- he always has a final word for Bub before each race, and he always has some positive feedback afterwards.

Ever cool, ever confident... Bub on deck.

And as seen here, one of the weekend's many highlights: meeting & watching Olympic medalist Katie Hoff (below in black) race each day.

Needless to say, we all came home exhausted, but boy oh boy, was it worth it!  Bub rocked all weekend long and displayed the true heart of a champion~