Ryan's 2015 Swimming Season

 

 This is Ryan's second year swimming on the Castle Rock Cruisers Swim Team. He loves it! The meets are early, they start at 8:00 am. Warm ups start anytime between 7:00 and 7:30, depending on whether it is a home meet or away. Sometimes it is a little chilly that early in the morning, even if it is summer!

 

 

Getting up on the blocks and ready to race! 

 

 

 Into position.

 

 

The freestyle is Ryan's favorite stroke. 

  

 

 

The breast stroke is Ryan's second favorite.  This season he has been swimming the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, and the 100 breast stroke. He usually signs up for a relay and/or a medley.

 

 

 Ryan and I came home from Championships to find this sign hanging on the house. Britta hadn't been to watch Ryan swim at any of his meets and she felt bad, so she made this banner. It made Ryan so happy!

 

 

At the end of the season, there is a party at the Rec Center. They have a dinner, give out medals from Championships, and then everyone can swim. Christian Townsend and Ryan are the same age, Nico and Izzy wanted to be in the picture too. Another fun swimming season has come to an end. 

Raised Flower Bed Project

We have been working in the back yard. Last year we laid some sod and I have been wanting to make a border between the grass and the fence. We bought 400 bricks and hauled them home in the trailer. They weigh 13 pounds each, and it took us three trips to get them all home so we wouldn't overload the trailer. Thank goodness Home Depot is only two or three miles away! 

Britta and I loaded them into this red wagon and pulled them into the backyard. We took 13 at a time. I pulled the wagon and she pushed , it was too heavy to do it alone. I am glad we saved this old wagon. Austin got it when he was 2, so it is 28 years old! It is made of metal has some rust in the bottom, but other than that, it works perfectly. The wagons they make now are made of plastic, and would never hold bricks this heavy!

 Wade offered to take two days off work and build this border for us. I have the best kids!

 Blake helped lay the bottom row.

 Blake and Britta hauled the bricks over to where Wade was working.

 Making good progress!

 Yay!! Two days later, we are done!  It looks fabulous! I am so happy with it! The ground is very uneven behind the border, it is high in some areas and much lower in others. We were originally planning to make it three bricks high, but decided we needed four high because the ground is so slanted. We had to get 100 more bricks. Phase II will be getting some top soil in there and leveling everything out. Then I will replant the few flowers that are there and add some more. I wanted to take this victory picture of Wade and celebrate...

 but this is how he really felt! Hot, tired, and worn out.

 Wade and I pose with the finished flower bed. Our back yard is quite large compared to how small the yards are on newer houses. I love being outside and I know we will enjoy this yard for years to come! Thank you, thank you Wade!!

 Tonight we had a little rain storm and we noticed this beautiful double rainbow. We have had quite a bit of rain this summer, but this is the first rainbow that I've seen, so I took this picture out the kitchen window.  I surely love living in Colorado!