Sunday, July 4, 2010

Summertime!

A few of our favorite things about summer.


Finding the exact amount of loose change needed to buy your favorite ice cream treat from the ice cream man.



Reading books on the front lawn and taking time to relax after a bike ride


Getting sleep wherever you can because summer's just too busy to stop for naps.



Soccer tournaments. Jack was on a competitive soccer league and had two tournaments in June. He played really well and was the only one to score a goal during the last tournament.





Nothing screams summer like snow cones. The big kids choose "suicide" (the flavors all mixed together) every time and wonder why I don't want to a taste of theirs. The little kids choose by colors. "What kind do you want?" "Yellow!" "Blue!" "Red!" Which I interpret to mean banana, blueberry, and Tiger's Blood.


Everyday is spent swimming at my parent's house. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (except for Sunday, of course). I love all of the sunshine and heat and sitting by the pool chatting with family and friends. It was a long winter and the heat is such a welcome change. The kids are at the perfect age for swimming. Jack, Ryan and Hadley are great swimmers and completely independent. Morgan and Griffin are taking swimming lessons 4x a week and absolutely lovin' it! I have to pull them out of the pool, kicking and screaming, when it's time to go home. And it's not like they just got in the pool. They swim almost 3-4 hours everyday.

Morgan shows off her "airplane arms and legs". Being on her back is her least favorite thing to do in the pool but she has improved. She's no longer wrapping her arms around Uncle Blake's neck and strangling him during the back float portion of her lesson.
P.S. Best swim teacher. EVER.




Griffin proves he was born to swim by showing how easy it is to do the back float all by himself.



After 5 years of jumping in feet first with her hands in diving position, Hadley finally figured out how to dive, head first, this summer!







Fridays equal "Cousins day at the pool". After a long winter of not seeing their Seal cousins very much, my kids are loving hanging out at the pool together. And try to sneak in a dinner and sleep over whenever they can too.

Griffin and Nixon are inseparable. They are two peas in a pod. Two naughty peas. They love each other and nothing is sweeter than listening to them say good bye to each other.

"I love you cousin! You're my bestest cousin ever! I love you so very much! You're my best friend and cousin!"

This exchange would go on forever if we let it. Cutest thing ever.

Grace bravely smiles in this picture, uncertain of what Morgan's next move may be.




Jack tries out his front flip. He refuses to listen to my suggestion of how get more air by doing a small hop before the final jump.
Starts his flip with zero air

Not sure if he's going to just dive or try to finish the flip

He made quite the finish. On his back.


Mia loves playing around the pool on the swing set, trampoline and plastic cars. She's still timid in the water and likes to be held. She's such an easy, always-happy toddler. She can entertain herself for hours around the pool while the kids swim.

And every once in awhile, even I get in the pool and swim. I need to do it more because I love having all of the kids hang on me while we swim together all around the pool.


"Do you think you have enough room in your arms for one more?" "Of course I do, Griffin!"

Morgan proves that taking breaths during swimming is overrated.

8 comments:

Jenni and Chad Stewart said...

Oh my gosh, I can't believe Morgan can swim that far without taking a breath!!

Wren said...

Looks like summer is off to a PERFECT start!!! Swimming with cousins, eating ice cream and snow cones, playing soccer and just having fun is what all summer memories should consist of! Reading this post brought back so many fun memories from when I was little...thank you!!! Happy 4th of July!

grandma bethany said...

Oh I love this blog! Summer time and the living is easy! Well, maybe not as easy as the song says, but so much fun. Watching Morgan and Griffin swimming makes the summer just perfect!

Emily said...

Isn't summer the best? Since putting in a pool last year it sure is for us! We also invested in a snowie snowcone maker. Best appliance purchase EVER! We are still working on getting Macy to swim. She has a hard time holding herself up with floaties, life jacket, everything! Did you have anything that worked well for Morgan when she 3 to help her swim somewhat independently (with floatation). Morgan looks great now!

Vennesa said...

Someday we're going to come swim with you, I promise!

heather said...

Emily-
I had to look through my old pictures to see what Morgan was doing at that age. She broke her leg the summer before she turned 3 so I don't think she did much swimming. Then I had a baby the summer before she turned 4 so I don't think I took her swimming very much. She wore a swimming suit with the floatie thins inside it in the pictures though.

Morgan is an extremely cautious child and really didn't start to swim until this summer (almost 8 years old). Before then she was perfectly content to sit on the pool stairs or go in a kiddie pool and play.

She finally got brave enough this summer to go off of the steps and walk around the shallow end (and jump in) all by herself.

If Macy isn't as cautious (Morgan has a fear with depth perception-the pool, playgrounds with holes where you can see the ground below you, etc.) then I think just continue having her swim with some sort of floatation device and she'll catch on one day soon.

I bet you are having so much fun with your new pool. The pics looks amazing! And a snow cone machine??? You may need to have us over for a swimming party. :)

Summer said...

I love summertime too! Your pictures are great! Love the post! We start swimming lessons again tomorrow. You are right! Blake is the best teacher ever! I am bummed we won't get to visit this week like last time. It was fun to chat while the kids had their lessons. We should get together some time!

Vero said...

Oh, i wish it was summer here!! Me encantan todas las cosas que están haciendo! El helado fue mi parte favorita, acá no hay camiones de helados, :(
Have a nice Birthday & enjoy summer vacations!