Let me just say that today was the most exciting day for me as a parent. I know that probably sounds melodramatic, but I really can't express the pride I feel. Kaedo has grown into himself in the past year. He is confident, strong and still as wonderful as ever.
Let's start at the beginning:
I dreamt(?) last night that he was going to drown - we figured swimming was his weakest sport and I didn't know how he would fair. Let me just say HE KICKED IT!!!!!!! He had to swim 100m - 4 lengths of the pool and he was just so amazing. He went up and back for his first two lengths then took a 5 second break, then he started up for his third lap and stopped at the end for 10 seconds, and then was right back at it. He finished 9 out of 12!!!! He is 5th from the left with the blue cap.
He then got into the transition area where he had to towel off, take off his swim cap, and get his shoes, socks and shirt on. He had some trouble finding his bike - there were 60 in his age group - but found it and got going. He had to bike for 5km and the picture above shows him coming through the end of the bike portion. He then had to get his bike parked in the same place, take off his helmet and get onto the running leg. That was 1.5km. It seemed like he had just started and there he was coming up to the finish line. I rushed to the end of the line so I could get pictures of him coming in. He received his medal and was so damn proud of himself. He was over the moon.
One of the cool things is that they draw your number on both arms and your age on your left calf. So cool. OK - on to some of the others things that happened. When he started swimming I was so shaky that we didn't get any usable footage. By the time I asked a guy to tape while I took pictures of him coming out of the pool he had blown past me. SO, I was petrified that I wouldn't get out there on time to take pics of him starting the bike leg that I picked up my considerable bulk and RAN through the course to get the pictures. Now the only problem with that, is that I peed my pants. Got there and got the pictures and then got him coming back and he was out like White Lightning running his face off. Seeing him come in was breathtaking. I'm sure everyone has a moment like that when they think of their own children, but this was a first for me. I am proud of everything they do, but I was overwhelmed. I was crying when I talked to Jessica - and yes, I am that pathetic.
This of course was followed up by lunch at McDonald's, which included a kids nugget meal and a McFlurry.
Then he said something that was so cool - "mom, I'm going to do it again".
2 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS KAEDEN - WAY TO GO!!!! We knew you could do it and you'll even do better next year because you know what to expect. I bet it was the good coaching that Sterling did - way to go Sterling. We are SOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU KAEDEN! Shannon - the feeling of being a proud parent never ends and then you become a proud grandparent - wish we could have been there cheering him on. Love you lots!
AWESOME KAEDO. We knew you'd be great. Isn't it great that all that swimming paid off in July. Can you remember how much better you got as the month progressed? Being in the pool until your look like a raisin really does have it's moments. We are so proud of you and we know your parents are over the moon. You rock!!
Shannon, I can see you now running from one venue to the other. Mothers just naturally want to get every movement, not miss a turn. We're so glad the day was such a huge success.
We are in Sydney, our ferry leaves at 9:30 am but we have to be there for 8:30. We could have got the 5:30 pm today but they really stressed how dangerous it was driving at night because of all the moose. We would have needed to drive 90 miles after the ferry docked which wouldn't have been until 11:30 pm. We decided to stay put and just go tomorrow as planned. We will arrive around 3:30-4 pm so it will still be daylight which really does make a huge difference when you're in an area of which you have no knowledge. We plan to be in St. John's sometime next week as we will do all the sightseeing on the way there. We may opt to take the long ferry back and that gives us the option. They have way more ferries than they have listed on the internet so we will get a schedule and see what suits us better for the return journey.
It is very warm and muggy here today. The sky was red so hopefully the crossing will be calm. I get so sea sick and I couldn't find any ginger root here. That works the best.
Sterling, you did a great coaching job. Kaeden, we are so happy for you.
Love you all
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