In late November Max had one last swim meet as an 8 year old. It was held at the Dayton Raiders Aquatic Center. His "rival" from Buckeye Swim Club, Chase, was there as was his other "rival", Jack from Kettering. It was such a fun meet for Max. He kicked booty and was later recognized for his hard work by winning the 8 and Under Boys High Point Award for collecting the most points (as scored by placing in events) of all the 8U boys. It was a terrific end to his "8 year old career".
November 30, Max turned 9. (9!?!?!?!) He was most excited about one thing regarding turning 9; he no longer had to report to the "clerk of course" at swim meets. This is where 8 and under swimmers have to go to line up about 30-45 minutes prior to their next event. It's always in a far-off room, away from everyone else, and they just sit there waiting to be lined up to swim. It helps to keep track of kids who may not know what they are doing and it drove Max nuts! So "woo hoo" for no more clerk of course!
We had a small party to celebrate Max turning 9. Six friends came over on Dec. 1 for a "snowman breakfast" complete with pancakes, eggs, bacon, donuts and chocolate milk. Afterward we all went to see "Frozen" at the movie theater, wearing our pajamas. Max loved every minute.
On December 5th, Chris and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary. We exchanged silly cards and gifts and went out to dinner that night… after Max's swim practice of course. :) Not a lot of fan fare with this anniversary but that's what happens when you're busy enjoying "life". Happy 15 to us!!
In mid-December there were two swim meets before the holiday break, and Max was now swimming in the 9-10 age group. At first meet, our home Winter Invite, Max swam fast enough to earn a Junior Olympic (fondly referred to as "JO") time in the 50 yard backstroke. (you should have seen the dance he did when he found out). Then at the big Miami University meet he earned another JO time in the 100 yard backstroke. He is .96 seconds away from a JO in the 50 butterfly and 1.1 second away from the JO cut in the 50 freestyle. He has a few more meets to make those cut times; he works so so so hard we can only hope it all pays off for him! So in March we will be spending three nights at Ohio State for the JO meet. Max is thrilled. We will spend every weekend in January either at a swim meet or a basketball game, because that season is starting for Max as well! Phew.
For part of Christmas break this year we traveled to Houston to see family. We also had a dark cloud hanging over us the entire time. Pretty much anything that could go wrong did, other than our plane crashing, thank God! We headed to CVG the minute Max got out of school. Traffic was so bad the we arrived 45 min before our plane took off, which is the cut off time for getting your bags on your flight. From there it got worse. Here is a run down of the chaos:
-I lost my drivers license and didn't know until trying to check in at CVG
-Had to get special permission (and extra pat downs) from TSA to be able to fly
-Once we landed at IAH we found out Max's luggage never even left CVG. We were told it would be there the next day by noon. They lied. It finally showed up at 7pm Sunday night; we left Monday morning.
-Max had to wear mesh shorts and a dri-fit shirt and his slides everywhere, including to church.
-The chain in the toilet of the room where we were staying broke. The floor flooded with water and carpet and padding had to be replaced.
-Chris shattered his iPhone completely and had to buy a new one.
-A lady behind me in line at the United ticket counter had a seizure and I had to call 911 on our return trip.
-More pat downs and security for me at IAH on our way home.
I think that is it? I'm sure I'm missing something?? It was the weirdest travel experience ever but we still had a good time while we were there and Max loved playing with his cousins.
Once we were back home we had a family celebration on Christmas Eve, Santa came and surprised Max with fun gifts on Christmas Day, and we had two full weeks more of vacation thanks to the polar vortex (come on, is that a real thing or made up by the Weather Channel?) and temps below 0 for the two days school was supposed to start again. We spent our time playing new board games, having friends over, staying up late, and building the Millennium Falcon from Legos. Max said "I'm too old!" when I asked him if he wanted to go see Santa this year (cry!) but he did write him the sweetest letter before his visit on Christmas Eve… I wish I had known that last year was his last to sit on the old guy's lap!
(Sweety, that he mentions in the letter, is his elf. He fell on Christmas Eve while the boys were messing around. Max was super worried that he wouldn't be back next year because he got knocked down.)
Our new house is coming along, despite the horrible winter (that started here in October!) so we are looking forward to that… and to all the other surprises and fun 2014 holds for us! Cheers to a new year!
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