Monday, July 18, 2011

We have been quite busy around here this summer. I have once again enrolled the kids in swimming lessons. They have started their second session this week. Matthew is doing great and loves every minute of the class. My main concern with Matthew is safety. I worry about him just running and jumping into deep water when no one is around. I was happy to see his instructors go over the "Rules of the Pool" every day and I think he is learning a lot, safety wise.

Here is Matthew volunteering to go first for something.

And here he is practicing "scooping" as they call it.



Embry is whole other story. She is very excited about going to her lesson every day. However, she has pretty much hit a wall as far as learning anything else because, she absolutely refuses to get her face wet at all. So her instructor is pretty limited in what they can do. For the first week of lessons, Embry had an awesome teacher who got her into the deep end of the pool and actually convinced her to let go and swim (doggie-paddle) about 3 feet on her own. But, in the following weeks, she has had instructors who don't push her nearly as hard and just let her hang out in the shallow end where she feels safe. I understand that she is scared, but I also know that she is VERY stubborn. So, I think she really needs someone to push her. Unfortunately, the program, not the parent, chooses the instructor. They do offer private lessons, but they are super expensive. I am starting to consider it, though. I mean, how much is it worth to have a child who can swim safely?

Here is a photo of Embry’s class. Notice how she’s the only one using a noodle? This particular instructor gave up trying to get her to swim on her own, so her gave her a noodle to keep up with the other girls in the class.



Embry and I shared our first mother/daughter pedicure and manicure for my birthday. Embry loved it and we both got cute little designs on our toes. I have painted Embry's toes before, but this was her first time having them professionally done, and her first time ever having her fingernails done. She felt very grown-up.

We had a great 4th of July at the home of Embry's best friend from school. We have become friends with her parents as well, and they invited us to their house for playtime, dinner and to watch the fireworks. There is a great spot for viewing the fireworks about 2 blocks from their house, so we just walked down after it got dark and hung out until the show. The kids had a great time playing on the slip-and-slide all afternoon, and they kept themselves busy with glowsticks and glow-necklaces all night. They were pretty cheap dates that day.


Then, on the weekend of my brother's birthday, my Mom, my Dad and I all surprised him by driving all the way to Ohio and visiting. I have not been to visit Nicolas since before Embry was born, so I'm sure it was quite a shock to see me there. His good friend arranged the whole thing including a surprise party with lots of friends, pizza, cake, and presents. It was a lot of time in the car, and not nearly enough time with family, but we had so much fun.



And the weather in Ohio was perfect! Unlike the insane heat wave that we are currently in the middle of right now.

Our projects this week include
1) Ridding our shed of 3-4 very destructive woodchucks (or are they groundhogs?)
2) Getting my dishwasher to actually wash my dishes
3) Keeping the family cool without out going crazy from being indoors all day

Well, some weeks are more exciting than others, right?