Ine's First Swim Meet & The USMC Museum

It's getting into December, which means I will have a LOT of blogging to do about holiday customs and traditions, but before I do, I think I should finish off blogging about November.  We did a LOT in November, although I haven't blogged since our NYC trip.  And that honestly seems like a lifetime ago.  My gosh this year is going by so quickly!  I honestly can't believe Ine has been here 3 months already.

The big news in November was that Ine joined the swim team at Fredericksburg Academy.  She has been going to practice every day after school, which gives me a little breathing room in my schedule in terms of picking her up and picking Leah up from school.  But it almost means later nights and trying to fix our meal schedule.  For the most part, this isn't an issue, because I generally have a bunch of recipes I can put in the oven and that will bake while I'm on my way to get Ine.  (As a side note, I asked Ine what she would like to eat, and she said salmon, which I cooked for the very first time ever this past month.  Ine took one bite and declared it cooked 'perfectly'.  I will probably never cook it again--why mess with perfection!?  Haha.  But seriously, I'm still glowing from that compliment, I can assure you!)

So on November 21, Ine had her first swim meet at St. Michael's High School here in Fredericksburg.  That day, my dad and I made fish cupcakes to celebrate our little flying fish.  I made a big dinner buffet of chili and baked potatoes with every possible fixing anyone could want, and we were ready for some good eating when we got home!

My mom, dad, sister, niece, and two nephews came down to cheer Ine on.  We arrived at the school a bit late, but it worked out fine because the meet had a later start.  Leah and I had made signs earlier in the day for everyone to hold and cheer and support Ine with, so we finally found our way into the bleachers and formed our own little cheering section.

 

The action got underway, and I was quite impressed by the kids swimming.  They ranged form 7th grade to seniors in high school.  Ine swam in 3 races--one really long race, one shorter race, and one relay.

The kids mark their races on their hands, and this is Ine's hand with her event, heat, and lane listed.  So you can see she did a 200, a 500, and the 400 relay.

It is exciting to have an athlete in the family to cheer for.  She did great, she made better times than her coach had predicted for her, but we were just happy she was participating.  As a parent, it was also very gratifying for me to see her interacting with her teammates, chatting with friends, and laughing and having fun.

You could even see that she was smiling while she was swimming.  I think she was a bit embarrassed by all the attention we gave her, and she said she didn't like swimming in lane 1 because she could see and hear everyone yelling for her, but overall, she really enjoyed the experience.  She came home on a real high--not tired, very hungry, and ready to celebrate with chili and cupcakes.

 

 

That night, my sister took Leah home with her for the weekend.  Ine and I went to see Mockingjay with my friend Amber, and we all enjoyed the movie very much.  Because it was opening weekend and we got there late, we were stuck in the very front of the theater.  I would like to go again to see it when the furor dies down and we can see it from a more normal vantage point.

On Sunday, we had to meet Judy to pick up Leah at the Marine Corps Museum, but when we got there, they hadn't arrived yet, so I told Ine "Let's go into the museum, I've never been, it's free, and we have 30 minutes to kill."  Thankfully she has a real adventurous spirit, so we went in.  We walked around a bit, but the exhibits are very twisty, so we got a bit lost.  Still, we got to see some interesting bits of Americana.

The US Marine Corps Museum

Up in the dome they have Marine Corps planes from various wars

The Oscar the Marine Corps won in the late 40's for a documentary they participated in

The second flag raised on Mt. Suribachi, images of which were the inspiration for the famous statue known as "Iwo Jima"

A beam from the World Trade Center

I will write a separate post about Thanksgiving.  But it was fun to see some things I'd never seen before, and led to lots of giggling as we got lost in the museum!