Your team is going down!

I hate that saying. "You are going down!" I heard my children repeat it this past week as we spent time preparing for a swim meet against some of our dear home school friends. It was a healthy competition for us. Our team was hosting their team and we could not wait.

Dad takes these meets very seriously. It was a very hot day. After every swim dad briefs the kiddos on their times. Not always fun.

Pickle is here getting ready to jump in the water. His times were good in most strokes. I can't tell you the details. If you want that information find his dad.
Our good friends were on the opposing team this week. I have been friends with the mom since we moved to Texas years ago. She is a local so I don't think the heat bothers her as much as it got to me that day. The meet was so much fun considering mom got to spend the day with one of her best friends and her delightful family. I love the nicknames she picked for their blogs . With her four children she uses the names: Faith, Hope, Charity and Love. Perfect. So above her Charity is waiting to swim. She is super fast and the same age as our Princess. Charity is preparing to swim a stroke that our Princess will not even learn until next year.
Sugar is good friends with this family's oldest daughter Faith. She is very different from Sugar and together they have a good time and complement each others personalities. As parents we have enjoyed watching them grow into mature soon to be teens together.
All this time at the swim meets is hardest on Jumba. We have to keep close tabs on him and he can't cool off in the pool. He is so good and is often found in the arms of a sibling or a friend. Here Bear is explaining something to him. I guess that is what big brothers are for.
Charity and Princess prepare for a swim. They are friends back on the ready bench and then again after the race.
Princess is wearing a borrowed cap. I loved the color because it was easy to find her in the water.
So here is my friend, the mother of those beautiful girls. We had so much fun with a healthy competition going on.
My little beauty waiting for the big race.
There she goes . . .
Jumba is here playing with mom's sun glasses. He and I often find a place to hide from the sun while Dad and Bagel watch from the sidelines.

Moogie is sitting just behind Hope from our friends family. These two also get along well but are both very popular with their own teams.

Pickle and Princess can often be found hanging out near the concession stand offering to help. One of the jobs that they often "get" to do is to take water around to the volunteers.

Dad is taking a break so we must not have a swimmer in the pool during this heat. Hope is behind J telling her mom about her latest swim.

And now their little boy. He is the cutest (next to Jumba of course). I love kissing his cheeks. His name is Love for the blog and it fits perfectly. With all the Love he gets from his three older sisters.

Dani invited a friend to watch her swim today. Poor guy was not a swimmer and is from a small family.

Here is another friend from our own team. Mrs. T and little T are always around the team. What fun we had that day!

We all loved spending the day with good friends. Now it doesn't matter to me at all! BUT for J and the kiddos I need to point out that The Cudas won this meet. The Blue Dolphins went down. Our friends left our pool with the dad promising that next year we were the ones that would be going down. We will tell you the outcome next year!