Swimming Lessons!

I signed my big girl up for her first extra-curricular activity of her life this summer … swimming lessons!  L was so excited to go learn to swim.  Especially since I signed her up to have lessons with her best friend.

Her first lesson went really well, considering how little exposure she’s had to the water in her life.  She does her best to keep her face way out of the water, but she’s more than happy to float on her back and kick around with the kickboard.  The only problem came at the end of class, when the teacher took the kids over to the water slide.  L isn’t used to having to wait for someone to catch her at the bottom of the slide, so as soon as the little boy in front of her went, down she went.  The poor teacher, with the little boy in her arms, wasn’t expecting L to come so quickly, so under the water she stayed for 2-3 seconds until the teacher could pull her up.

She came up coughing and gasping – and entirely inconsolable, poor thing.  The teacher brought her over to me with this, “Oh, great, now I’m going to get lectured by an angry parent,” look on her face.  I smiled and took L, assured her she was okay, and got her calmed down.  She was just fine until we got over to where C was waiting, then she broke down again (for another round of sympathy – it barely took anything from C to have her calm again).

I’d assumed I could take S and let her play in the kiddie pool while L had lessons, but we got there to find the kiddie pool broken and drained.  To keep S happy, we waited a 1/2 hr until free swim and I took both the girls swimming.  They loved it!  L was eager to show off the things she’d learned, and S was giddy just being in the water.  I took them both over to the slide.  S was quick to go down over and over again, and L even went down twice.  As long as I was at the bottom, she was okay with it.

But her little dunk the first day still wasn’t enough to dampen her enthusiasm.  She was thrilled to be back in the water with her teacher the second night – although she downright refused to go down the slide with her teacher at the bottom.  And when I didn’t let her stay for free-swim, she was put out with me.  Next year I will definitely sign both girls up for swimming – just so poor S doesn’t have to throw a fit every time I put L in her swimming suit and leave S alone at home with Dad.

Our Yard

After a long wait, our yard is finally starting to feel like a yard.  It actually looks green now, when you look at it from a distance, and I think it’s fantastic for 2 weeks of growth.  The grass is still a bit small to go running around on, but we’ll lay down some fertilizer this coming weekend to give it another boost.  According to the hydro-seed guy, it should be sod-quality by the end of the summer.  I’m very hopeful.

You can also see our pretty little maple in the front corner of the yard.  L is so excited about the tree, and she’ll look at it, then come announce, “Our tree grew!”  I was tickled the other day to see a pair of finches flitting around in it.   Yeah for grass!

Thank Heaven for Big Miracles …

This is really a post about my little brother, but it was such a large part of our weekend, it felt strange leaving it out.

L is my (much taller than me) little brother, and I adore him.  He met up with us for the bar-b-que at my grandma’s on the evening of July 3rd, then left to take a girl out to the fireworks.  He took his motorcycle.  Later that evening, traveling 65 mph on the 201 in Salt Lake, he and his passenger were rear-ended.  The witness (who was driving along in L’s blind spot) saw a car coming up fast behind her.  It swerved around her, and she hit her breaks, so the car would have room to get in between her and L.  Apparently the car didn’t see L at all.  It plowed right into them and kept right on going. 

L was driving down the road, carefully driving the speed limit (not only according to him, but also to the witnesses and the sheriff who investigated the accident), wearing full protective gear (okay, so he didn’t have his boots on…) and his passenger had a helmet on.  He heard a crunch behind him and the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air and rolling on the ground.  He had time to think, “Wow, I’m still going pretty fast.  What should I do?”  The answer came to him, “Ball up!” So he did, and rolled to a stop.  His passenger was lying in the next lane over, so he got up, picked her up, and managed to get both of them to the concrete barrier on the shoulder of the road.

L ended up with a badly sprained knee and some road rash.  His passenger won the contest – she ended up with a skull fracture and much more road rash.  But the kicker is – they’re both alive and doing well!  Imagine taking a dive into the pavement at 65mph on a busy freeway after the 4th of July fireworks are over, and walking away from it.   The bike is totaled.

Anyone still wondering if there is a God?

Happy Fourth!

On a whim this year, we decided to go visit family in Utah for the fourth.  Last year, C had to work the parade in a nearby town, but this year, some other poor schmuck got stuck with it, and we were free to do what we wanted.

A few days before we made our decision, L asked me, “Mom, have you ever been on a boat?”  Ha.  Have I ever been on a boat?  Yes, my dear, I have.  “Do you think maybe one day I can go on a boat?”  So I called my mom and asked if we could take the boat out on the 4th. 

Can you see how happy this child is?!  S, on the other hand, was in my lap, screaming both for me to take her life jacket off and to put her in the water.  She finally calmed down when I took her to the back of the boat and let her put her hand in the water.

It’s hard to tell with the wind in our faces, but this is one happy, laughing child.

We had a good time, even though it was too cold, really, to do anything, and since I’m pregnant, my little brother was the only one to actually get in the water.  Next time I won’t be pregnant, and the girls will be big enough, maybe, to drag around on a tube.

This year we decided L was old enough to stay awake for the fireworks, which means by default, S got to stay up, too.

Notice which one almost has her eyes closed …

And which one eventually fell asleep!

We finished off the weekend with a trip to the zoo to wear the girls out and to let C loosen up his back before hopping in the car.

 

The girls did a good job sharing their ice cream, and while they didn’t sleep all the way home, they were pretty good.

Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful weekend!

Boating

Yes, that is my brother, L, behind the boat on his wakeboard, the morning before he got hit. I'm so glad he's still alive - even if his leg isn't up for wakeboarding at the moment!

My cute little bug!

S came  into my bedroom to wake me up this morning with her usual, chipper, “Is it wake-up time yet, Mama?”  Then she said, “Mama, Look!”  I sat up and watched as she waddled up and down the side of my bed.

“Oh,” I said, “Are you a little penguin?”

She ran up to me and said, “No!  I’m a Mama!”

C tried to stop himself from laughing.  I just laughed.  I guess my baby belly isn’t the only sign of pregnancy!