They are the Champions, my friends.

Congratulations Ellie and Phoebe.  I have attached proof of their great success at the Y.  I hesitate to say that while I am proud of the ladies they haven’t quite reached the same level as Aunt Sarah.  No, I am not referring to her placing in several marathons or her teaching awards.  I am referring to her Camp Monomoy award for “most enthusiastic snorkeler” circa 1980.  There is nothing more satisfying than getting an award when you didn’t even know you were competing.  Phoebe and Ellie are progressing well in the pool.  I took Phoebe to free swim today as it was raining and she missed swim class yesterday because what her very conscientious father diagnosed as a “bug bite” turned out to be a staph infection.  No worries.  Two nasty needles in the thighs followed by two shopping sprees to our local toy stores did the trick.  This summer’s Y session were okay but a bit lethargic.  Ellie is now starting to scoop with one hand and occasionally kicks and Phoebe is swimming fine with bubbles.  Both sets of cousins are enrolled in lessons too and Jake has taken well to the water (I’ll post a video later).  This is a relief to to me because it means that one of the Jerotz’s might actually venture into the Pacific.  People alter the course of their entire professional lives to move to San Diego and take advantage of the surf.  I can almost say with certainty that I have spent more time in the ocean there than Aunt Sarah.  I admit that having to shuffle your feet to scatter the bat rays, contend with the 100 other surfers who don’t seem to have anything else to do with their day, and the exhaustion of paddling and sitting and staring into that setting sun does get a little old (and reminds me of how much better kiteboarding is) but there is something to getting out of the water and getting a good burrito.  I like burritos.  Also the Jerotz’s have a hot tub and I like hot tubs too.  Also they have a walk in pantry that is more or less dedicated to snacks.