Our Project 10: Saturday in the Burbs Edition

If you’ve been following us, this is our 3rd month that I’ve partnered with 9 other photographers to document a day in our life. The idea is to take a picture (or so) an hour (or so) and post 10 (ish) pictures that tells the story of our day. I thought I knew what I was going to do this month…I was going to document a day in the life of me working at home. Well, I did and it consisted of me on the computer, and then me on the computer, and ended with me holding a swim team committee meeting? Have I lost you yet? So needless to say, when I grabbed my camera and ran out the door on Saturday, this ended up being a much more interesting day in my life. Hope you enjoy some of the eye candy (you’ll know what I mean ;).

If you know me, you know that I LOVE the Olympics. I love everything about them. It probably all started in the summer of 1984 when my mom and I were glued to the TV set watching the summer Olympics in LA. Then, right after we moved to Atlanta, I had the opportunity to participate in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics. That was an unforgettable experience. And in 2008, as was most of the country, I was glued to my set watching the men’s swimming from Beijing. I will never forget watching the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay and going crazy when they won! So, that is where I start my Project 10 this month…on the shores of Lake Lanier.

At the last minute, I decided to sign Haylee up for the Eric Shanteau’s Swim for Your Life event which was being held not far from us. I thought it would be fun for her to try out some open water swimming and I had heard that it was a good event last year that raised money for the Livestrong Foundation in honor of Eric’s successful fight against cancer. Rowdy Gaines was the commentator and he was pretty funny. There wasn’t a second that he didn’t have a bull horn or a microphone up to his mouth…even when he changed into his swim gear, he was still sloggin’ that bullhorn around.

The day started with a 1 mile or 5k (3.1 mile!!) swim in the lake. Haylee didn’t do the mile swim but wished that she would have once she got there. We decided we will do it together next year. I won’t be embarrassed because there are so many people that are doing the 5k, it won’t be as obvious when I am the last one out of the lake on the 1 mile. But really, just shoot me if I ever try to do a 5k swim. The fastest swimmers did it in 1 hour and 7 minutes or so, the slowest (that would be about what my pace would be) in 2 hours and 39 minutes. It was pretty impressive…a 14 year old came out of the water just after 2 Olympians and before Katie Hoff. Wow!

Here is Katie finishing the 5k. All I have to say is that swimming does a body good…

After the race, the Olympians were very gracious and let the kids get autographs on their t-shirts or swim caps, and let them take pictures with them. It was a fairly small event so it was easy to get pictures and lots of fun.

This is our friend Jack (quite the up and coming backstroker himself) with Aaron Piersol, one of the best backstrokers of all time. He was super friendly and gracious to all of the kids. He was definitely not just calling it in.

Haylee with Kathleen Hersey.

We ate lunch on the beach and then Eric and the other Olympians made a video to Lance Armstrong to invite him to the event next year. Apparently, he has been doing some open water swimming to stay in shape. I told Haylee that would be a boom for fundraising but we could kiss this “small and intimate” event goodbye. I guess it would be a mixed blessing if he came next year. I hear the event was already about 3x larger than last year.

After the awards ceremony and lunch, the Olympians taught clinics for the kids. What an opportunity! Each stroke was represented by some of the world’s best swimmers in that stroke and the kids split up into groups. Haylee’s weakest stroke is breaststroke. Lucky for her, Eric Shanteau is not only one of the best breaststrokers, he was a pretty darn good teacher. I thought he by far had the best instruction and Haylee walked away and said, “Wow, I am doing everything wrong!” But I also believe she walked away with some things to work on which was great.

Learning about the backstroke from Aaron Piersol. Why are all the girls smiling in this picture (he he, sorry couldn’t resist)?

One last group shot of our Olympians. I believe they said over 25 Olympic medals were represented at this event. Pretty darn cool! I would have died to do something like this when I was a kid (not that I swam…but nonetheless).

Haylee swam the 500 yard open water swim. It wasn’t timed but she did great and I’m quite sure she would be able to do a sprint tri. I am hoping we can do one together once she turns 13.

While this was the end of a wonderful event, it wasn’t the end of this day for me! Haylee and I went and grabbed some yogurt before I went home and napped (taking pictures of people is exhausting!). I had to get my rest because it is Bowling Night. That’s right, the fun never ends in the burbs!!

While Haylee and I were out wishing we were Olympians, Cameron and Daddy hung out and bought Halloween decor since Cameron said our yard was lame. She worked very hard to get it looking scary. I was proud of her for working on it all on her own.

Then it was off to bowling. Since I knew I had to be in a picture, I was hamming it up after each shot. If anything, we cracked ourselves up. Not so sure we’ll crack anyone else up but we had fun!

This is my STRIKE face 🙂

It is 10:30…I am sunburned and tired but my baby finished her project so I had to make it the last picture of the day (that is kind of how I feel right now!)

Now check out my new friend Robyn Oakenfold from Little Bug Photography to see what she’s been up to…