States = Mohawk

Today was a first for our zoo. Heathen #1 joined the swim team at the YMCA this fall and has been in the water four or five days a week ever since. At one of the regular season meets, his 200 medley relay team qualified for the district meet! He was ecstatic (and so were we) and he conned a trip to Chuck E. Cheese out of it.

This morning was the district meet. And last night we had to set the clocks ahead an hour last night as well. And the meet was an hour away from the zoo. And Heathen #1 had to be in the pool at 7am for warm-ups (at least initially - but I'll get to that part).

So... I set my alarm for 4:30 in the morning. Because, of course, I had to shower and do my hair and make up. It's not acceptable to be seen otherwise. But I've mentioned my weakness in this area in another entry and will let it go here. So the alarm buzzes at 4:30 in the morning. And the Asst. Zookeeper and I didn't go to bed until 12:30. Needless to say, the snooze alarm got slapped.

At 5:00am, I pulled myself out of bed and dragged myself to the shower. It's amazing how water wakes you up and makes you feel better about getting up at an ungodly hour. And I started to get excited. This was my heathen - going to districts! WOW!!!

After dressing and prepping, I went to wake the Asst (the danger of which is mentioned in previous blogs). However, when I went into the bedroom, he was already awake! This was the first bit of proof that I had that he was as excited as I was. :) He headed for the shower and I headed for the bedroom of Heathen #1.

Flipped on the light, called his name a few times and he was out of bed! WOW! He headed downstairs to gather his stuff for swimming with hardly a grumble. It was like being in the twilight zone.

Into the bedroom of Heathens #2 and #3. Here I bogged down a bit. Heathen #2 was surprisingly chipper and happily got dressed, gathering up an array of junk to take with him in his backpack. He wasn't the issue. Heathen #3 was.

Usually pretty happy at wake up time, he was rolled in a blanket like a corn dog. And he wasn't coming out without a fight. I managed to uncover parts of him one at a time to dress them. He then immediately pulled them back into the blanket cocoon. Can't say that I blame him. It was horribly early - even for me.

I wrapped Heathen #3 in a blanket and carried him downstairs. After socking and shoeing the Heathens, we packed into the zoo-mobile, and headed for the swim meet. It was 6am. And then we learned that I had done one of those "Dani" things. One of my stupid, didn't look closely enough, things that I am famous for at our zoo.

I got the driving directions out in the car. The second sheet of paper had the lane assignments for warm ups. Tristan's team wasn't scheduled to warm up until 7:50. Not 7am. We could have slept for almost another hour. But the Asst. Zookeeper smiled and said that for once we would be EARLY!!! Something that is not often accomplished at our zoo.

Upon arrival at the natatorium (the fancy word they give big pools at colleges), we got Tristan registered and situated. We really didn't have that long to wait until his team went for warm-ups. When he headed into the pool, we headed to the stands to watch. Watching kids warm-up is hypnotic. It's similar to a perpetual motion machine. They just keep going and going and going....

Then the meet started. His event was the second of the day. There were 9 teams of boys (ages 9-10). They were seeded in 9th place. Which, in my opinion and the Asst. Zookeeper's, was wonderful! All they could do was improve their standings.

They swam in the first heat against two other teams. And they took third place with a time of 2 minutes 41 seconds. But they didn't care. They got out of the water very excited and pumped up that they had done well. It was really cute. Or as cute as four 10 year old boys can really be.

It turned out that two of the other teams were disqualified for mistakes. Which put Heathen #1's team into 7th place! And they QUALIFIED FOR THE STATE MEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was so excited. And the Asst. Zookeeper was so proud! I couldn't have been happier for him. He loved swimming so much when we were in high school. And for him to see Heathen #1 do that well and be that excited was great for me. I'm not sure who I was more excited for - it could go either way.

Well, that wasn't the big end to our day. Not yet! When the Asst. Zookeeper was swimming, if he made it to the state meet, he could get his hair cut any way he wanted. And he had told Heathen #1 the same thing. So after stopping for breakfast, we headed for a haircut. At this point it was only 11 am.

He wanted a mohawk. And I gave my blessing. I don't think it mattered if I gave my blessing or not. I think the Asst. Zookeeper would have over-ruled me in this instance. So my 9-year-old now has a mohawk. And we stopped at the mall to get lime green spray for this mohawk. And it is REALLY green.

I would pay to see the faces at the school tomorrow morning when my green mohawk wearing son walks down the halls. It would be entertaining. :) Once I get the pictures, I'll add them. It's well worth seeing.