With eight children and a ninth on the way, Jackie Henderson has no problem playing the mom card.

She speaks. They listen. They usually do as told. So when she told Chris that there would be no more snorkeling until he learned to swim, he listened. He took the swimming lessons. The difference is, Chris is Jackie Henderson’s husband. Two years after taking a two-week swimming course for soldiers at Schofield Barracks, the Army major plans to finish out his tour in Hawaii with a splash.

Chris Henderson and his four oldest children will complete the North Shore Swim Series with Saturday’s Jamba Juice North Shore Challenge. The 2.3-mile swim from Ehukai Beach to Waimea Bay is the finale of the four-race series, as well as the Henderson family’s final competition before moving to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., later this month.

Chris Henderson was supposed to report for duty on July 15 but got the approval to delay the move until after Saturday’s swim. Some of it was expense — the family had paid $1,000 to do the series — and some of it was tradition.

Son Alex, 17, and daughter Dani, 16, have been competing in the series since 2008. This is the second full series for Chris and daughter Sophia, 11 — the two did one race in 2009 — while daughter Kaemmer, 14, started this year.

"We are the Griswolds, but with more kids," said Chris Henderson, referencing the fictional family in the comedic National Lampoon Vacation movies. "We are generally outgoing. We are in Hawaii. We do ocean swims. Only a few places you can do that year-round. This is something we have been able to do together."

The family is together quite a bit, from daily Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Wahiawa to all of the children being home-schooled.

"It is a lot of work, I admit it," Jackie Henderson said of the home-schooling. "But it is so fulfilling, so worth it. With such a big family, we didn’t put them into team sports, with all the different schedules. But swim team, with the same schedules, we could handle that. They started swimming with the Schofield Sharks (swim club) when we moved here and coach Blake (Mar) said they should do the swim series."

Jackie Henderson was on her high school swimming team, but, ironically, she hasn’t done any of the swims here due to pregnancy.

"I take care of the little ones and cheer when (the other family members) come across the finish line," she said. "We’ve done other races besides the swims. I’ve done some of the 5Ks (runs). It’s become part of who we are."

That ohana comes with a lot of T-shirts. Chris and Alex finished the Honolulu and North Shore marathons as well as three Triple Crown for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Alex and Dani also have done the Guard Dog Triathlon and three Waikiki Roughwater swims; Sophia, Kaemmer, Cordelia, 7, and Olivia, 6, all did the Puppy Dog Triathlon.

And then there was the grueling 10-mile Tantalus run on 10-10-10 (Oct. 10, 2010) that Chris, Alex and Dani completed. The hilly route has become part of the around the island driving tour the family gives their visitors.

Chris and Jackie Henderson, who met while in the marching band at the University of Alabama, said they would like to return to Hawaii for another tour.

"But you never know what God and the Army have planned for you," she said.