Swimming for Miles

 

After spending 3 hours in the pool at Bean's party, these two had a couple hours off before they had to go to the next pool for the Lap-a-thon.

 

And then these two kids totally crushed it.

 

They swam for 1 1/4 hours, and Bean did 130 laps (over 2 miles!), Bug did 106. It's a little crazy to me what these two can do when they try.

 

They should have been exhausted, but this one was the tired one. He's had a rough week. He came down with a stomach bug Sunday and took 5 days to recover, but even though he's not sick anymore, he's still pretty tired by evening.

Perfect Day for a Swim Party

 

Seems like everything we do is about the pool these days. Bean picked to have a swim party with a few of her school friends this year, and unlike some other years (here and here), we got beautiful blue skies and just the right amount of heat to make swimming fun, but sitting on the deck comfortable.

Among the guests were the girls she went to 1st grade with. I love that we still get to see these four girls together a couple times a year. They have fun together.

 

And she had a couple other friends from school as well. Nice, small group.

 

The seal is always a hit.

 

Blowing out the candles--12!

 

What we came up with last minute for decorations, haha.

 

Best way to use pool noodles--making a Daddy raft.

 

This picture cracks me up--E was the champion of the get-the-cookie-from-your-forehead-to-your-mouth challenge.

 

They went through a LOT of cookies trying this. 

 

Ready to try, and. . .

 

Lost it!

 

A different technique.

 

 

So close.

Fun day at the pool with friends=a happy almost birthday girl.

Back in the Water

 

The kids had their first official swim meet Thursday night.

 

They've been having fun being back at the pool with all their swim team friends.

 

This year is the big jump for Bean--she moved up to the 11-12 age group, which means she's swimming 50s instead of 25s, and that means she is doing flip turns. She's actually been doing really well with it all, even though she was pretty nervous about doing a 50 butterfly toward the end of the night, but she looked good out there. And she has a few weeks to see how hard she can push herself.

  

She also did backstroke, which she didn't really swim last year. It's not her favorite stroke, but she's always been pretty good at it.

Bug also has a bit of a challenge this year because the 9-10 age group does the 100 IM. He was a nervous wreck leading up to it, sure that he was going to be disqualified for something, or be too tired to finish, but I kept trying to talk him down (because, really, what does it matter--everyone gets DQed at some point, and so what? You lose that race. Even if that makes your team lose the whole meet, who cares? There is absolutely nothing attached to winning--and our team pretty much loses every meet anyway :) ) I think we've got a bit of a perfectionist on our hands. 

And all the worry was for nothing because he did great out there. I hope someday we can get him through a first meet without all the fear.

And with that, we're already 4 weeks into swim season. Only 3 more to go.

Car Wash

 

I think I have the best "job" at church possible--I get to work with the 8-11 year old girls, which is fun, and I get to try to come up with activities that they not only enjoy, but also teach them things about themselves, the world around them, and their relationship with God. 

I also feel pretty strongly that I need to do whatever I can to push the limits on some long time traditions that can make being a girl not quite as fun as being a boy in our church. Two years ago, that meant making sure these girls got to have a day camp just like the cub scouts do. This year, it meant having a fundraiser so that camp can be bigger and better than ever.

 

Today was our first ever car wash/bake sale/lemonade stand at the church and it went better than I could have hoped. Not only did everything run pretty smoothly, and we got a steady stream of cars, and some nice donations that pushed us above what I had hoped we'd earn, but I think the activity itself is going to be one of the favorites.

 

These girls worked hard for over 3 hours, trying to flag down motorist, scrubbing cars, staying cool ;)

 

I was so impressed with how they stuck with this the whole time, and it wasn't easy. 

 

It was hot, 

there wasn't a lot of time for breaks,

 and there were a whole lot of goodies just on the other side of the parking lot,

 tempting them all morning.

 

 

They earned that camp money.

 

I can't wait for next month when we get to spend a week together doing so many amazing things.

It's Summer!

School's out, we have one vacation under our belts, and summer activities have been going strong this week. Our first day back, we headed to a farm to pick raspberries.

 

That was something new for us--we've picked a lot of strawberries, but I think everyone really liked being able to stand up while picking these berries.
 

Bean and Bug worked hard, Peanut, not so much. And about 5 minutes in, he had to go to the bathroom, which meant he and I spent about 20 minutes walking back to the front of the farm where the bathrooms were, and back again. I need to accept that neither he or I are going to be productive, pretty much ever.

 

We found a bunch of these tiny frogs near the raspberry patch. They were so cute!

 

Only other animal we saw on the farm. 

This little guy got a summer haircut this week. His mop of hair was making his head hot, so we thought we'd try something new. This is the shortest his hair has been since birth when I think he could have done this same hairstyle.

 

Our own yard is also feeling summery.

 

Our hydrangeas are in full bloom, and have great color this year.

 

These flowers are some of my favorites.

 

 

Our garden really took off over the weekend, too. We kept it simple this year--a few tomatoes and cucumbers, and then some herbs and peppers in pots. So many of the other things we try just don't produce enough food to make up for the cost of the plants.

We've also had swim practice, a practice swim meet, a trip to the library, and lots of hot, lazy afternoons reading and playing at home. I decided to keep this summer a little simpler and didn't make a bunch of charts and prize options. The kids helped me come up with a summer bucket list, and we'll try to do a couple things each week, and they know that they're going to have to help out around the house (and so far, I've been really impressed with how well they've been doing cleaning up the kitchen after lunch and snacks so it isn't constantly buried in dishes and left out food), but other than that, I'm not going to track every little thing we do. We'll participate in a couple reading programs, and I think that's enough tracking for me :)

Have No Fear

 

Peanut just finished his first round of swim lessons. He has always been timid around water (timid might be an understatement--bath time has only become bearable in the last year or so, and washing his hair still leads to screaming most times). I joke that the whole water birth thing must have scarred him for life, but really, I feel like it's time that we work through the fear of getting his face wet.

 

He did okay his first lesson--still smiling at the end of it--but it's been a bit of a struggle ever since. Lots of negotiating, some tears.

But, he's also come a long way. He'll now hold onto the wall instead of the nearest neck, for minutes at a time.

 

He can float on his back, and even though he doesn't believe it, he doesn't even need someone's hand under him.

 

He will blow bubbles, and sometimes even put his nose in for a second.

 

He still doesn't like going all the way under, but if he holds his nose, he will (but only during the second half of practice--he was adamant that I tell his teacher every week that he doesn't like going under and will only do it at the end.)

 

And he'll get his ears wet, which used to be a huge problem for him--so many bath time struggles because of the ears.

 

He really is more relaxed in the water than he was 2 months ago. I took him swimming the other day and I could feel it in the way he let me hold him and the fact that he wanted to hold onto the wall himself and get in and out of the pool on his own.

 

 

We may still be a couple years off from actual swimming, but we're taking baby steps!