Family Matters

 

My cousin John's son Johnny and his wife Youngjin and their son Oliver live in Virginia, about an hour and 15 minutes away.  John's daughter Miko (Johnny's sister) was in town visiting her brother/SIL/nephew, so they all came up to visit us on Saturday evening.  How lucky are we?

The kids loved doting on little Ollie.  

Dave got a picture of all of us together:

Miko, Youngjin, Ollie, Johnny, Me (wearing my Cardall family T-shirt from 2009), Ella, Lacey, Tanner and Riley

And then jumped in one :)  

I always think of my Grandpa John and Grandma Eleanor when generations of their family get together.  It all started with them and I know they smile down from heaven when they see their posterity making efforts to be together and form relationships. #FamiliesAreForever

Swim Team Wrap-Up

 

This weekend wrapped up Summer Swim Team.

The girls had their final Swim Meet yesterday.

Riley (2nd from right) waiting her turn.

Ready to go.....

Riley got 3rd place overall in  25 M Backstroke (23.97 seconds), 5th place in 25 M Fly (22.14 seconds) and ROCKED the Breast stroke getting 1st place with a time of 24.00.  

She also had fun swimming in a relay for her final swim of the season!

Look at my cute little peanut!

So hard to believe this little girl adamantly refused to get in the water when we first signed her up for swim team a few years ago and dropped out after the first week or two.  She LOVES swim team now.  And it is absolutely the highlight of her summer days!

And she's clearly highly motivated by candy because they told the kids that if they got a PR, they could choose a full size candy bag/bar.  Determined to earn that candy, this little fish went on to get FIRST place AND a personal best in every event she swam!!  She swam 21.90 in the 25 M Free, 28.30 in the 25 M Back and 28.39 in the 25 M Fly.  Way to go, Ella!

And Riley and Ella weren't the only Strom swimmers yesterday!

They did a "just for fun" Coach vs Parent relay and Dave signed up to do it.  (Truth be told, I signed him up to do it 😉)  So fun to watch him swim and cheer him on!  They did great!

And tonight we had the Swim Team Banquet where the kids got their medals.

Riley and Ella waiting to hear their names.

So glad these two got to swim together this year.

And fun to watch these two swim together too!  Ella has been friends with Ethan for a while, but Swim Team has brought them especially close and they are so stinkin' cute together!

14.5 and 8.5

 

When Lacey was born in the dead of Winter on January 22nd, a friend of mine, who also had a Winter birthday told me that she always celebrated her half birthday in the summer because it was so much more fun to celebrate in nice weather.  So..... thus was born "Lacey Day" which we celebrate on her half birthday every July 22nd.  We gave her a new stylus to use with one of her computer art sets.

Ella quickly caught on that this should apply to her as well since her birthday is just 3 days after Lacey's, so today, we celebrate Ella Day!  Can't believe our baby girl is 8 1/2!

We got her a lacrosse bag to also celebrate her making the Integrity Club lacrosse team so that she has a place to pack and bring all of her lacrosse belongings to her games and practices (and so that she doesn't have to keep borrowing Riley's!)

Happy Half Birthday to our bookends!

Lacey Living Life

Upon graduating Middle School, Lacey's friend invited her to go to Six Flags.  It was only $20 more to buy a Season Pass and the park is only 25 minutes from our house, so I went ahead and bought the Season Pass and told Lacey to plan some more outings there with her friends.  So, on Wednesday, that is what she did!  The first time she went, one of the Moms went with the girls.  So this was the first time with Lacey going by herself with friends and navigating the park on their own!

Lucy, Lacey and Audrey - they had a great time!

She was also invited to a murder-mystery birthday party where she was assigned the role of a "Mad Scientist."

Clearly a lab explosion went awry 😉🤓

Come Sail Away

 

Tanner is just coming off his favorite week of the year!

Last Sunday night, he went to bed saying, "I can't wait for tomorrow - it's the highlight of my summer!"

He was referring to, of course..... Sailing Camp!  Ahh.... the perks of living in Annapolis!

Here he is checking in for Day one going through Covid screening.

Ready to roll!

Chillin with his good buddy Owen.  The two of them have done this camp together for several years.

Look at all those boats ready to be sailed!

He sailed J-22's, drove power boats, paddle boarded, kayaked and more.  And saw a pod of six dolphins on his first day!

Pearly Whites: Before and After

Lacey got her braces on in Jan. 2019.... 2.5 years ago.  We were told it would be about 2 years.  So every check up for the past 6 months, we have been asking when they could come off.

Well..... the day FINALLY arrived!!  So fun to see those pearly whites!

And to top it off, she came home to some fun mail - receiving a certificate from the National Junior Honor Society and the President's Education Awards Program.

Fun week for Lacey 😃

Just Keep Swimming

 

Riley and Ella have been having a blast doing Swim Team this summer.  We're winding down now; we only have one swim meet left.

This past week, Ella swam the 25M Free (and got first place!) with a time of 24.15seconds.  She also swam Breast Stroke and got 3rd place with a time of 35.64.  

Heat Winner 😊🏊

Last week was Riley's (pictured here with friends Ava and Addy) first swim meet because.....

She's been at lacrosse camp!

But despite missing so much swim team, she swam her little heart out this past week and did the 50 M Free (45.07 seconds - fourth place), 25M Back (22.87 seconds - third place), the 25M Fly (22.54 seconds - fourth place) and a Relay.

Ready, Set, Go!!

This week, was Spirit Week.  Ella participated in "Tropical Tuesday"

And "Fan Friday."

This one in particular is loving so much time at the pool this summer!

Boy Scout Camp

 

On Monday (July 5th), we woke up early and hit the road so that we could leave the OBX and head all the way to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border to drop Tanner off at Boy Scout camp.

I told him to send me pictures of him fishing, sleeping outside in his self-made shelter (for Wilderness Survival) and doing all the other awesome activities he did.  Unfortunately, the only pics he sent us were goofy selfies!

With buddy Owen

And tent-mate Matthew

At the end of the week, I went to pick him up.

Here he is with buddy Matthew at the Broadneck Creek BSA camp entrance.

Ready to leave camp with four additional merit badges under his belt!

Camp didn't happen last year due to COVID and the year before, he went by himself without his troop/friends because camp conflicted with our family vacation.  So I'm so grateful he got to experience camp this year with his Troop and friends!

His home for the last week.

On my Honor.....