Wow.

What an exciting day!!! My stomach still feels like it's in my throat. I'm not sure my mind or heart can handle any more drama.

The kids had swim finals today in Edina. Will went into the meet having to drop 0.36 seconds in his 50 Freestyle and 0.53 seconds in his 100 Freestyle. He got the 50 by about half a second and squeaked in by the skin of his teeth on the 100. And by squeaked, I mean that he needed a 1:12.29 and he swam a 1:12.28.

OMG - I almost had a heart attack.

And Maddie - that little trooper was my champ today. She has had the most amazing weekend...getting personal best times in 7 of the 8 events she swam. She had a magical weekend - it was almost like watching a transformed swimmer out there...but it was actually my kid! She dropped approximately 62 seconds in all these events combined. Maddie's bittersweet moment of the weekend was when, on Saturday, she dropped over 10 seconds in her 200 Freestyle; and then came back today in a time-trial to drop another 2.75 seconds. The heart breaker here is that this amazing near-13 second time drop still left her just short of her state qualifying time by 0.31 seconds. She needed a 2:36.69 and swam a 2:37.00.

And then I almost had another heart attack.

Never in my life have I realized how incredibly joyous or heartbreaking mere fractions of a second can be.

So, they're both going to State Championships in a couple weeks - Will in 2 individual events and 2 relays, and Maddie in 2 relays. They are thrilled!

Right now, I couldn't be prouder of these kiddos. They cheered for each other, hugged each other and truly were happy for each others victories. They've worked their butts off for the past 6 months. And during these past 2 days, I've been reminded of the shear strength and determination they each possess.

And now...we're going to take a few deep breaths and have an early night to bed. I think it'll be a good night sleep for everyone!