In every grain of sand, there is a story . . .

Today started much as yesterday, except without the naivety of inexperience. Our kids were well aware of what their six hour day of exercise would mean physically and mentally, but rose to the challenge without complaints. Once again, everyone was up and out by 6:50 a.m. for their 7:00 a.m. practice.

We moms have our routine down and, following the kids' departure for their morning practice session, we hit the beach ourselves for morning runs and walks to take a little time for ourselves. Our days are very busy at training camp headquarters cleaning, cooking, doing laundry and organizing.

I returned to the beach to take pictures to document the kids' experiences through my camera lens both for the morning and noon practices. While the kids' running was less intense today, the weather is warmer (downright hot) and their strength exercises appeared more intense. They run in bare feet and some have developed a few blisters, however, none so serious that they've had to sit on the sidelines for practice.

The highlight of the day seems to be the dip in the backyard pool following workouts.

Shortly following the morning practice, one of our campers named Aigul needed to make a run to a sporting goods store. The closest is about 10 miles away and I offered to take her to town. I was fortunate to get to know her on the way.

Aigul Kozharkulova is the 15-year-old skating student of Coach Valentin Nikolaev, one of our two camp coaches. What many may not know is that Valentin is an amazingly gifted coach with a stunning track record, having coached Olympic champions Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko, several additional European ice skating champions and our very own Coach Alexei Mantsorov while living in the Ukraine. Valentin now lives and coaches in Richmond, VA.

Currently, Valentin coaches both Aigul from Kazakhstan and Mitchel Chapman from Australia. Both skaters are Olympic hopefuls, skating at the senior level, in their respective countries.

We are very fortunate to have both Valentin and Alexei coaching our kids through camp. The respect and admiration that Alexei has for Valentin is evident to even an onlooker and the respect and admiration our kids show for Alexei is incredibly similar.

I read the most fabulous quote this morning . . . "If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves."

I thought about this quote when I was talking with Aigul, sympathizing with her as she tells the story of her family that she misses because they half-a-world away, but dreaming with her as she talked about her goal of becoming an Olympian.

I thought about this quote when I saw these kids strain with everything they had to run that last tenth of a mile and then flashed to the hundreds of days and evenings that I have seen their parents sitting on the cold bleachers. I am certain the support they have been given by their parents at the rink has helped to carry them through more than one trial during training camp.

I thought about this quote when I saw the embrace of Kelly and Lauren Moor following the noon practice, knowing the sacrifices families make to ensure that their kids have memorable experiences through this sport.

And I thought about this quote when I, perched in the sand with my camera, focused in on my own daughter who, in the end of her painful run, mouthed, "I love you, Mommy!"

For all of the sacrifices our skaters and their families make, so much is gained . . .

It's a Beautiful Day in Our Neighborhood

As Mr. Rogers would say, it is, indeed a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

For whatever reason, that silly show has come to mind a few times today, probably because of the amount of times I've already watched the kids take on and off their shoes, change clothes, and come in and out the door.

My name is Courtney Dunbar and I am the "Skating Mom" of Addison Dunbar. As a parent of an "only" child, I fully expected chaos for this first day of camp, but was pleasantly surprised when all 10 camp participants were out of bed, teeth brushed (well, at least we think they were :), clothes on, fed and out the door by 6:45 a.m. for their first morning of their new beach-side training regime.

Our beach house is located approximately 1/2 mile from their "camp site" and is very nice. We are not actually beach-side, but are literally across the street and have a fabulous view of the ocean from the second floor and loft space. To be nice, we decided to drive them there to start their day out fresh. I was eager to see what they'd be up to, so I offered to drive. With camera in tow, I secretly perched in the sand for a bit to catch a glimpse of training.

There is something entirely unique about the early morning on the beach and this morning was no different. What intrigued me about this group of skaters was their willingness to participate and their camaraderie in the tasks. While I didn't watch the practice for long, it was neat to see their cohesiveness.

We "Moms," Kelly Moor, Brigitte Martineau, Svetlana Mantsorov and me, are learning the ropes, also. Here's what I can tell you about how things work around here, from my perspective:

Practice occurs 3 times per day, from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m., 12:00 -p.m.-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. The kids will have logged over 9 miles of running by the end of their first day, alone. Their exercise routines consist of strength and endurance training and, despite the intensity, all of the kids seem to have adjusted well.

Food matters a lot when you're burning a million calories per day, hence, we take our cooking responsibilities very seriously. We've been enjoying preparing meals for the kids.

The kids seem to really like our cooking . . .

. . . and you can just imagine the laundry and cleaning that has to happen in the kids' absence!

The best news I can share is that these kids are having a blast. In between strenuous workouts, eating, changing clothes, changing shoes and getting their 80th layer of sunblock applied, they've figured out how to make time to collect a few seashells, dance in the ocean, play tag and jump in the backyard pool already. Several were asking when it was time to go back to the ocean again for more practice.

So far, so good!