Swimming Lessons

Elijah started swim lessons this summer. He made a huge amount of progress in five short weeks. Elijah has always had a healthy fear of the water and in the beginning he cried through most of the lesson. He didn't even want to get his chin wet. But, Mr. Travis was wonderful with him -- he was gentle, sweet and persistent. Amazingly, by the end, Elijah was swimming across the pool by himself and he even jumped off the diving board -- something he swore he'd never do. Again, he has turned into such a big boy this summer!










* Elijah did this one too.

Our First Lake House Trip, Part III -- Letting Daddy Study

Scott continued taking classes this summer towards his Master's Degree. His studying and online learning added a new wrinkle to our summer, and more specifically to this post, our Lake House trip. The kids and I tried to give Daddy some time to study by venturing (or staying) at the lake front by ourselves. We also took walks and threw rocks into the lake off of the old pier. Elijah happily went on walks with Keira and I most mornings once Daddy drew an accurate map of the area. He loved tracing our route with his finger while he walked. That first map has intensified Eli's interest in maps. Now whenever we take car trips, we print up one set of directions for us and individual maps of each step for Elijah. He also likes to spend a bulk of his hour of screen time exploring Google Earth. Here's Elijah showing off his map.



Grammie and I gave Daddy most of one day to study and catch up by taking the kids to Clayton. Keira fell asleep promptly on the way.


Once we got to Clayton we ate at our new favorite Mexican restaurant that Scott, the kids and I had found the previous day. During our meal, Grammie was amazed. Grammie and I eat out with the kids on most Grammie days at IHOP. The trips are always generally successful, but can be a little hairy. We try to have a little time to chat, and those results are generally mixed. The Mexican restaurant, on the other hand, gave us plenty of leisurely time to talk and enjoy our meal. Both kids love queso and chips. The queso arrives almost immediately and it serves as an activity to keep the kids occupied. The kids also share chicken and rice, which they both enjoy. Grammie marvelled that she'd never seen Keira eat so much! After a delicious lunch, we got some ice cream at the old school soda fountain inside Clayton's old fashioned pharmacy. Grammie snapped some great pictures of the kids, complete with queso adorned clothing.




Another hit of the day was the kid-sized Jeep outside the hardware store. Elijah was desperately hoping to get it as a souvenir.


We enjoyed an extremely successful outing, which gave Daddy some much needed time to work. Yet, no matter how much fun we have, it's always nice to come home to Daddy.

Our First Lake House Trip, Part II -- Boating

One of Elijah's favorite part of visiting the Lake House is "Babo's Boat Ride." Elijah enthusiastically dons his life jacket, cuts up and issues us all tickets and loves to drive and navigate while on the boat. While Keira, on the other hand, is still a little unsure, to put it mildly. She says "making noise!" in an unhappy voice, nestles safely into my arms and covers her ears. Fortunately, she did warm up eventually, and we even got a few smiles out of her.







Elijah expanded his boating repertoire this year to include canoeing. Eli and Daddy took a few canoeing trips together where they rowed to the other side of the lake, beached the canoe and found a tiny sandy beach on the opposite side of the lake. After a few successful jaunts, Keira and I even joined them for a quick ride.




Finally, and most excitedly, Elijah added the jetski to his boating repertoire. He was a little nervous to try it, but once he did, he smiled ear to ear and couldn't get enough. He's really turned into such a big boy this summer!

Our First Lake House Trip, Part I -- Fun at the Lake Front

As the kids are getting older, the lake house trips have become more fun. This year was no exception. Specifically, sitting down at the lake front and swimming in the lake were both more fun and more relaxing. The kids happily played in the sand for hours. And, you can see the amazing view I got while supervising.




Swimming was more fun, too. Elijah was much more confident in the water this year. He and Daddy even swam all the way to the float. Keira was much easier to supervise in the water. One of our neighbors gave Keira a ring floatee at the beginning of the summer and it allowed her to be incredibly independent in the water. She walked into the shallower water, then kicked to move into the deeper water. She can even turn around and around in circles.

Disney World, Part IV--Typhoon Lagoon

Any trip down to Disney in sweltering June isn't complete without a trip to a water park. In fact, I told Scott that in some ways it's my favorite part of our whole trip. It's so relaxing. This year was especially fun. Keira loved the kiddie play area with all of the little slides, squirties and sand. While, Elijah tried some of the "big boy" slides this year. Yet, he still enjoyed his favorite innertube ride in the kiddie area, too. All four of us even rode down the Lazy River together. What a great day!






*Elijah did this one too!

Disney World, Part III -- Downtown Disney

As usual, we enjoyed our visit to Downtown Disney. Both kids rode the train with Daddy. As you can see in the pictures, Elijah loved it more than Keira. Although, both kids helped get the tokens and waited patiently in line.





While Elijah stayed to ride the train while Daddy watched, Keira and I headed to the carousel. Again, she loved it.



Posing with the character statues is always a fun and photogenic part of our Downtown Disney visit. Keira insisted on giving Mickey and Minnie's statues hugs and kisses.






Two additional attractions on this visit were the castmember with her bubble blower and the water squirting fountains.



*Elijah wrote all the words and uploaded all the pictures for this post!