Sunday

We're home! What an amazing week! We had so much fun as a family and enjoyed beautiful Southern California. My (Shayne) most favorite quote of the week was from Aaron, "where are the clouds?" That sums up the weather we experienced. Traffic was horrid, but the weather and our experiences were worth it! Caleb swam well, we learned a lot about Paralympic swimming, and he made some good friends! Now it's time to regroup, train and set some goals for Caleb. Is it too soon to say Brazil 2016? The Lord has a plan for Caleb and if swimming is part of it, we know He'll continue to direct Caleb's path. More pictures will follow but right now, it's bed time! Thanks for reading!

Saturday pt 2

Caleb did great at the morning preliminaries for the 50 meter backstroke. He cut over a second from his best time and placed 5th in his classification so it was back for e finals. A side note...Dalton Herendeen, a former Concord swimmer who is now swimming for the University of Indianapolis, has had Caleb sitting with him and the USA team. What an awesome time for Caleb. Coach Grace had given Caleb a couple NASA swim caps to trade with other teams. Caleb asked Dalton to help him get some caps. Well Dalton did better than that, he introduced Caleb to 3 beautiful young ladies who took him around to make the trades. Needless to say, he was in heaven and came home with 2 Australia team caps, 1 Canada team cap and a USA team member cap. It was funny.
Finals went very well for him. His goal was to go less than 50 sec on the 50 back and he went 47.80. He dropped 2 seconds from his morning swim and set a new lifetime best. After a dinner at TGIFridays with Coach Grace, we headed to a hotel near the airport for our morning flight.

Satuarday AM

At the pool for morning session Caleb will be swimming the 50 back-stroke today!  Check back later to find out the results.

Friday pm

Late Friday afternoon Caleb swam in the Men's 100 meter backstroke finals and placed 5th overall! He achieved his lifetime best, swimming faster than this morning's qualifying time! He performed like a champion. Saturday morning Caleb will swim the 50 meter backstroke and if he qualifies for the finals, will swim Saturday afternoon. The countries competing at this meet are: USA; Canada; Australia; Brazil; Denmark; Russia; South Korea and Ukraine. This has been a tremendous experience as well as a learning process. It's been awesome having Coach Grace here with Caleb. His knowledge and instruction has been invaluable. We appreciate him taking his time to be here! This week has gone FAST. One more day of swimming and then back home to the frozen North. Thanks for reading!

Friday AM

Big day, not only is it Caleb's 12th birthday but he will swim 3 events today!  We have uploaded pictures for the past 2-3 days, please see below.

Friday in the morning Caleb swam the 50 freestyle and shaved/cut .32 sec and placed 9th (just outside the top 8) that would swim in the evening for the finals.  Caleb also swam the 200 IM (all four strokes; butterfly, breast, back and freestyle), he shaved/cut 1.7 sec which put him in the top 8 but was disqualified for an improper stroke.  He then swam the 100 back-stroke and shaved/cut 2 sec which placed him in the top 8.  He will be swimming in the finals Friday night for a metal/ribon place.

This is what morning warm-ups look like each morning (Caleb is in there somewhere)!








Thank you for all the Birthday wishes!



I miss home, i'm having fun, I miss school, my friends and teachers.

Caleb

Thursday-the first swim

Today is another gorgeous, sunny day in Southern California. We were excited and yet a little apprehensive because of not knowing what to expect today. There are swimmers from all over the world ie Austrailia, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Japan, France are just to name a few. Caleb seemed to be in his element talking with Dalton Herendeen and others that he has met in the past. The meet was rather slow moving with a lot of technical issues. People sitting around us said that it was very unusual to have so many timing issues. Caleb had one event today, the 50 Fly. He did great and was in the top 5 in his classification. This was even after a slow start off the wall. He said he couldn't hear the starter say "take your mark" which kinda confused him. In the end, we found out he had been disqualified because his arms did not come out of water together at the end. Caleb took it well and said "I swim tomorrow." He's amazing. Caleb & Gary went to the finals to cheer on Dalton and others. Thanks for reading!

Countries represented at the swim meet!

Wednesday part 2

Yesterday, Caleb had training in the morning. It was really cool to sit at the pool and watch as the teams from Australia, Mexico, Japan and Canada came in. Seems unreal to have our 12 year old there in the mix. After training and a quick lunch at Chipotle, we headed out on a whale watching tour in Newport Beach. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and was beautiful being out on the Pacific Ocean. We immediately saw sea lions lazying around on a buoy marker. The captain was heading us back into land when we spotted 2 bottle nose dolphins playing in the water. They quickly swam away and then Gary spotted water sprays in the distance. There were literally hundreds of common dolphins all around. It was an amazing sight! We had dinner at "Ruby's" on Balboa Pier and watched the sunset. Gorgeous! There were fishermen on the pier that Gary befriended and they allowed him to take a fish off there line but it had swallowed the hook. Gary said that it was going to die but they said no, it won't, and tossed it into the ocean. Immediately, a sea lion jumped out and ate it. It was hilarious. The fishermen had a good story to tell their families!

Today, Wednesday, Caleb was reclassified and had training in the morning. We spent the afternoon around the pool at the resort. It was probably 70 degrees and sunny, no clouds to be seen. We went to Downtown Disney for dinner at ESPN Zone and, of course, played the games. After walking around for a bit, we are now back at the condo. Tomorrow is an early morning. Caleb swims one event tomorrow, the 50 butterfly. He's excited and ready to go! Pictures will follow. Good night all.

Family on the boat to go out and see the dolphins &
whales.

School/Pod of Dolphins!

Sea lions catching rays!

Boys playing on the beach and in the ocean!

West coast sunset Tuesday!

Supper Tuesday night!

Gary helping out some local ocean fishermen!

Wednesday

Caleb in the pool!                   

This morning Caleb will be classified for international swim which will determine which disability class he will be swimming. He will then have his last practice before the swimming meet which begins Thursday morning 8:30am (PST)/11:30 (Indiana/EST) and will run through Saturday.

Caleb with Coach Grace on the last practice before the swim

meet!

Tuesday

The weather has been nice (sunny and no clouds) in the low 60's.  We can see why Southern California is very popular (great weather year around.  I should say I agree BUT the driving!  We were told "don't be in a hurry to get anywhere in Southern California".... WOW that is an understatement but I'm not complaining.   We have enjoyed a little down-time but now it's time to get to work.  As I'm typing this Tuesday morning, Caleb is hard at work, with a morning swim practice.  He sure is a hard worker!  As a dad, the thoughts of all the things I would never see Caleb do were many.  But to sit here in LaMirada, California and watch him swim along side other swimmers around the world has left me speechless.  This morning we watched the Australian and Canadian paralympian teams enter the pool area.  And now to watch Caleb swim along side these other paralympians is undescribable!  Again a huge THANK YOU to all that made this possible!  Well practice is almost over, talk with you all later.  We hope all is well with you.   We love and appreciate you all!

This sign is in many areas of the aquatic center.

Monday

We spent our day at the San Diego Zoo. Wow! What a beautiful place. It's easy to understand why it's referred to as the best zoo in the nation. The grounds were immaculate, the habitats are well designed and the animals looked great. Our favorites were the panda bears, the polar bears, koalas, and the scarey monkeys that freaked Gary out. Actually, it's kinda hard to name favorites. Each exhibit had something amazing. After the zoo, we had a yummy dinner at Claim Jumpers. Very yummy! Seth and Caleb liked the polar bears the best. Aaron liked the koalas and the Skyfari ride. Wednesday, Caleb is scheduled to be classified for international swim, with the Can-Am (Canada-American) swimming meet starting on Thursday and running thru Saturday. Still working on uploading pictures, thanks for your patience. Thanks for all the comments!

We saw some strange animals in this habitat!

Great day at the San Diego Zoo!

Sunday

We landed in California late Saturday night. We are having a little trouble uploading pictures, are working on it today.

On Sunday we met up with Goshen/Middlebury friends Keith & Arlene Julien (happened to be in LA/Beverly Hills at the same time) at a celebrity auction (Julien Auctions). 

We watched "stuff' from famous people sell to buyers from all over the world.  Stuff from Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Cher, Muhammad Ali, race car drivers (NASCAR suits), Mickey Mantle, Rock-n-roll stars, etc and many more.  Interesting!

Cher's Dress!

Elvis Jacket!

















After the auction we went to see "Grauman's Chinese" theater.

Busy place on a Sunday afternoon!

Lots of star's imprints!

All kinds of "characters" hanging around!

The boys are enjoying some down time at the club house Sunday night!

We had a safe trip to Chicago's O'hare airport.  We are waiting for our flight to Los Angeles.  We would like to thank all for their prayers and support for this incredible opportunity.

Gary

I'm having so much fun I may not want to come home!!!

Caleb

Maybe a future pilot!

Maybe a future co-pilot!

Weary travelers!



Gettin' ready to go to California!

The 6th Grade at Northridge Middle School sent Caleb off today with a poster signed by most of the 6th grade Class!  Middlebury Elementary School teachers sent a certificate to Caleb, wishing him well!