Splash Bash!

Ryan is a member of USA Swimming. I follow USA Swimming on Facebook, and also receive their email updates. About two months ago, I received an email (and saw an announcement on Facebook) that USA Swimming was running a contest to host a Splash Bash to watch either the swimming world championships or the swimming national championships. I entered AND WON! I received an email that I had won (I’m sure several dozen/hundred people did – not just me), and then received a huge box a couple of weeks later! The box contained balloons, plates, napkins, cups, metallic star confetti, posters, magnetic picture frames, thunder sticks, bingo cards & plastic markers, stickers, temporary tattoos, wristbands, water bottles, shirts, towels, and all sorts of other things.

I made an invitation on one of my favorite websites for that sort of thing. It looked GREAT! In fact, as we passed the invitations out at the swim team parents meeting, I was asked if I was a professional party planner! :) That’s what my dad always said I should do. Perhaps I’ve missed my true calling in life!

We invited all of the 11-12 year old kids on Ryan’s swim team. Only six showed up, but that seemed perfect for our little house. We asked each person to bring a snack to share, and we set them all on the red, white & blue decorated table with the cake we bought.


The kids had a great time watching the championships, playing bingo, eating, and fighting with the thunder sticks. Even though I showed them how to hit them together to cheer, they obviously felt that hitting each other was more fun!









Earlier in the week we took a “Thank You” card to Coach Dale. Ryan wanted to give him an invitation for the party. He stopped by for the last little while. The kids were thrilled! It was fun to give the kids an opportunity to spend a little bit of time with him one more time.

I had a huge Thank You card on the counter for the kids to sign for Coach Dale, and a Get Well card for them to sign for Lars. They showed Dale, but I took pictures of the kids with Dale that I’ll print and put in the card and then deliver to him.

Even though we had a smaller group than we expected, it was a lot of fun. A few of the parents called/emailed me and told me how much fun the kids had. Ryan thought it was great, too. And isn’t that the most important?