Swim Meet

The girls had a swim meet in New Hampshire today, so we Rowes headed north right after lunch.  Ethan mistakenly took an early exit in Nashua, and I used the opportunity to have him stop at a gas station so I could use the bathroom.  It was smooth sailing to the meet once we got back on track and we made it to the meet in plenty of time.


The meet and aftermath were a demonstration of both competence and incompetence on the part of our girls.

COMPETENCE:

-Julia's relay not only came in first place, but they dropped three seconds off their best time.
-Madeleine qualified for District Championships in yet another event, the 25 yard backstroke
-Julia took a whopping 6 seconds off her time for the 200 IM and dropped a second off of her 100 butterfly time.
-Madeleine had a solid performance in the 25 yard butterfly, finishing in the top 3


INCOMPETENCE:

-Julia insisted on coming up into the bleachers with her big fat swim bag clocking people in the heads because she thought she needed me to ask me to come help her take a shower in the locker room.  (ETHAN: Use your intelligence.  You can do this on your own.  JULIA: But what if I can't figure out how to turn the shower on?!?  ETHAN: Again, use your intelligence.)
-Julia also forgot to pack underwear so she had to put her wet swimsuit back on after her shower.
-This conversation with Madeleine as we prepared to leave the swim meet:
MADELEINE: Mommy?  You know that gas station we stopped at on the way here where you went to the bathroom?
ME: Yeah?
MADELEINE: I was wondering if we can stop there on the way home, because I have to go to the bathroom.
ME: Um...why don't you just go to the bathroom here?
MADELEINE: (brightly) Oh!  Okay!
-The goldfish situation:
Madeleine refused to use a certain shower because there was a goldfish in it.  I had no idea what she was talking about, until we got home and had a discussion at the dinner table.
JULIA: I had my Goldfish for a second snack after I was done swimming.  But the last three got soggy, so I had to throw them away.
ETHAN: Why did they get soggy?
JULIA: Because I was eating them in the shower!
ETHAN AND I: You eat in the shower?!?
JULIA: Yeah!  I like eating in the shower!  But I dropped a few Goldfish, so I just kicked them into another shower.



But, hey, at least they scored points for the team, right?