Taylor had a short, Saturday afternoon Future League Swim Meet at Dalplex yesterday, between the breaks for Eastern Championships. It was hot and crowded and a particularly unorganized affair and Taylor had a really GREAT time :) she wasnt so tired and felt pretty confident and did really well :)
We drove down in a nice little snowstorm that wasnt forecast (ok they said flurries and about a cm of snow but we had about 4 inches before leaving home and it was kinda nasty out). So we had not been able to allow a lot of extra time for driving; Holly had hockey at 730-830; then she had 4H rather far from our house (I actually dont know where she was) at 930; so she had to be taken out and dropped off and we couldnt leave before 1045; Taylor had to be warming up at 1205 so we were really rushed for time. We packed up Annika and picked up Lavinia and off to Halifax we went!
The Dalplex pool was pretty nice, with a good viewing area and nice touch pads and a board showing times so it was nice from a spectator point of view. I need to remember to dress a little more lightly next time; my tshirt and jeans with wool socks was too warm lol.
Photos werent great this time; I found it crowded and Annika was always on my lap so they are a little more blurred.
Taylor's first event was 50 M Butterfly. It amazes me that she even does this stroke; has anyone tried Butterfly? Its super hard!!!
Waiting for the start. Taylor never really seems nervous although sometimes she describes butterflies lol she doesnt show it! She just jumps up where she is supposed to be and gets into position.
Her dives have shown a lot of improvement! She is still kinda dropping off the block but she doesnt go so deep and there is some momentum with them now. She stays under water a little longer now too :) Here she got off to a good start, hitting the water right after the signal!
Swimming the Butterfly; her technique is good although it is hard to tell in these photos ;)
Hitting the wall; a 2 handed simultaneous touch is needed in this stroke and she has been DQ'ed from the IM for not doing a 2 handed touch so she was really slamming the walls this day! lol
And her time; she was 4rth in her heat in Lane 6 and this was her best time. Actually I dont believe she had a best time before lol. Different meets have different lengths and I dont think she had done all these 50 meters before.
The next race was 50M Backstroke. Taylor really likes backstroke. And she is pretty strong at it too.
Her start was great; I think she should be underwater more in her start but look how fast her start was; she's way ahead of some of those other swimmers ;):)
Didnt have a long lens on yet so I didnt get great shots of her backstroke lol
Her touch; any part can touch and I believe a lot of them hit with their heads haha
Her time; she was third in her heat in Lane 5. Another best time for her :)
Waiting for the next event to start; 50 M Breaststroke. They had a little break when they ran the 200M IM for the older kids; Taylor was supposed to do that and loves to do that; but they were running out of time. See what I mean? Disorganized; we came a long way and paid a lot for them to cut races and rush things. OH well.
There were only 2 of them in this heat; so pretty easy to watch :)
Breaststroke seems to be Taylor's most difficult stroke to get right. Its the kicks; she was DQed in Antigonish for not kicking right, and although her first lap was good, she wasnt kicking 'wide' enough on the second lap and again she was DQed. So they are working on it still.
Her finish; two handed required. I missed her time on this one as they erased it as soon as it was posted; grr. WIth only 2 people in the heat they didnt need to show a time? lol Lavinia wrote it down and I will get it from her lol.
About to start the last race, 50M Freestyle. This could be any stroke, actually, but most do crawl. This is definitely Taylor's favorite event.
Dive; still pretty good! She's always ready and gets off the block fast!
Crawl!
Hit the wall! Any touch is ok!
and her time; second in her heat in lane 8! Certainly a best time for her.
Checking out her time on the board...
And realising how good it was....she was prettttty happy :):)
Giving me that look "see what I did??"
She can't wait for practice on Monday and the next swim meet! :):)
#7: Nope, nothing going on over here! :)
#8: Balloons. No birthday should happen without balloons :)
Not evidence, just another cutie pie waiting for something to happen. 
#9: The Cake. Chocolate and chocolate :) With 11 candles PLUS one for luck apparently Holly thought Taylor needs luck.
#10: Singing Happy Birthday!That is pretty concrete evidence of a birthday occurance.
#11: Cheesy Smiles required at all parties.
#12: Blowing out candles; three kids blowing didnt get all of these candles out! Evidence of boyfriends. Not named.
Just another cute little girlie photo to illustrate participants of the party :)
#12: Eating of Cake. Long standing birthday tradition being exhibited.
#13: Nanny is In Da House. A staple of birthday celebrations.
#14: Continuous cake eating. Indisputable evidence.
#15: Presents. The clincher is the opening of these colourful bags with "Something" inside.
#16: More Presents.
#17: Present Overload going on.
#18: Smiles
#19: Anticipation; one of the gifts was a Wii game :)
#20: Trying out a new gift: Boogie Superstar or something like that.
Singing better = singing louder. Must be the best/loudest singer.
