Clara's first time swimming

Last Saturday morning we met some friends at the aquatic center to swim. When we first moved here we were coming all the time to swim for fun, but now that Kate is in school we have less free time and most of our time at the aquatic center is doing lessons. Kate and Sawyer were so excited to swim with Clara so I dug out Kate's old swim suit. She was asleep when we first got there so the kids just played with Daddy until she woke up, ate and was ready to go


She didn't mind the water at all. She loves bath time and the pool water is pretty warm.

And then 5 minutes later she was done

But don't worry, after she got dried off and warmed up she was her happy self again.

We're excited to have Clara enjoy swimming with us and I'm sure her brother and sister will teach her how to be a little fish just like they are. Kate actually started swim team again this week. There were no tears, just a big fat smile! It is amazing how much growing she has done this year in Kindergarten. I sure love my swim babies!

Firsts for Kate

This morning Kate went to her first swim team practice and I could tell she was nervous. Excited, but nervous. When we pulled in she told me she was scared and I did my best to reassure her and told her that mommy gets scared of new things too. When we got there she wanted me close to her the entire time and when it was time to start she wouldn't let me go and she kind of started to cry. The coaches were great and it only took about 5 minutes when they had coaxed her over and I was able to go watch from a safe distance. She looked so cute using little fins and a kickboard and she did awesome. Afterwards I asked her what her favorite part was and she said, "Everything!!" So it looks like we will be doing swim team this summer!

Ryan had the day off today and in the afternoon, while Sawyer was taking a nap, he took the training wheels off Kate's bike and they headed out to the paved road (Down the street from us because our driveway and road is gravel) After about a half hour she came back in with a big smile on her face and asked if I wanted to see her ride her bike! Sawyer had woken up from his nap by then so we all headed over to the elementary school parking lot and did a little bike riding before dinner. Kate did awesome and only fell a few times (usually while trying to stop/dismount) and she didn't cry a single time. She was so brave and would run to me with a big smile on her face every time she would do a lap around the parking lot.

Sawyer is a good little bike rider too, although he has done most of his riding on our gravel driveway where you never go fast enough to need to stop...you usually get stuck on a rock and have to get off and move it and start riding again. At one point he was headed right towards me going pretty fast with this really scared look on his face and making those "help me, MOM!" whines! I had to help him stop and after that he had a little tutorial on how to use his brakes.

Swimming lessons

When we were moving to Vermont I researched gyms more than anything else and I purposely chose our house here in Quechee because it is fairly close to the gym I chose, the Upper Valley Aquatic Center. It is a great facility and I am trying really hard to make it work, besides the fact that I am not in love with their classes or their schedule. All the gyms here are really expensive. I am paying $105 a month for our membership, $25 added on for unlimited group exercise (its $5 a class if you don't pay the monthly fee), and on top of that I have to pay $5.50 per hour for both of my kids to go to daycare. If I was going to the gym the same amount as I did in my wonderful Houston gym, it would add up to $218 per month. That is really hard to swallow and it is daily testing the balance between my obsession with working out and my thrifty side that wants to save $5.50 a day for day care. And really, it wouldn't be so hard if the classes were awesome. Sigh.
But one advantage to this place is the swimming pools. It has an awesome splash park that we can use whenever we want and I am excited to get my kids into the sport of swimming. So this is the place for us...for now!
I signed the kids up for weekly swimming lessons and they have been so excited. Kate has done swimming lessons the last 2 summers and we, of course, spent a lot of time swimming in the long Houston summers. She is really confident. Sawyer has always had no fear in the water but this is his first time doing swim lessons. They both loved it and loved their teacher, Dan.
Sawyer is young for his group (you are supposed to be 3 but they made an exception since he is almost 3) but he did really well, fearlessly blowing bubbles, putting his head under the water and jumping in higher than anyone else.
Kate was more advanced than anyone in her class and even surprised us by back floating on her own for the first time like it was no big deal. I have tried to work on it with her and she always would spaz when I would let go but she did it perfectly first thing. The teacher said she should probably be in the more advanced group but he was going to keep her in here for a little bit so she can learn some more terminology. I thought she did an awesome job, she tried her hardest to speak up when her teacher would ask her questions (which is something we've been working on) and you could just see how happy she was! And ever since I started swimming with a swim cap she has been totally obsessed with having one too and was so excited to wear her bright pink one today! The teacher thought it was pretty hilarious and I think its the cutest thing I've ever seen!
We are excited to have this be part of our weekly schedule as we are getting more into our routine! And even though it is still freezing, snowy winter here, it is fun to be in the pool still!

Summer isn't over just yet...

I went to our fun YMCA pool this week to meet a friend, only to find out that the "fun" pool is closed because summer is over and we had to swim in the lap pool. We still had fun, but I was missing my baby pool, shallow ends, and fun water features. I just couldn't believe that summer was over! My kids don't go to school so summer should last until I say so! And because its still 90 degrees here....I say so!
Today we took our Daddy to the pool to enjoy our extended summer and we had fun.

Is it just me, or is that belly the cutest thing in the whole world?

surrounded by fun pools

Houston is definitely not lacking in the cool pool department! We were invited down to Pearland to swim at a friend's pool and it was awesome! They had a fun little kid play area with shallow water and slides Kate could go down. I was a little sad because the first thing Kate does when she gets to the top slide the first time is slip on her butt and flail as she tumbles down the slide. great. But she quickly warmed right back up to it and I could sit back and watch her climb the stairs, slide down the slide and repeat....over and over again!


It was good practice for Schlitterbahn next week (that is our family vacation! Its a big waterslide park and we're really excited to check it out.)

As we were playing in the water I was cracking up at how much Sawyer imitates Kate. She was dipping her hair in the water face first and then coming up and fixing her hair in funny curls in front and things. The next thing I know, Sawyer is walking around doing the same thing! It was cracking me up!

After a whole bunch of playing we enjoyed a little lunch and then headed to the car.Kate and I enjoyed some refreshing Sonic
and Sawyer looked like this in a matter of seconds

Since we were down in Pearland we decided to do a little grocery shopping at the "little cart" grocery store.
They had lots of samples out and Kate couldn't decide what she liked more, eating the samples or driving the cart.
Sawyer woke up just in time to enjoy a nice, messy popsicle sample too!

and our trip ended with Kate pointing out that her little brother was stinky.
It was a really fun day in Pearland! Thanks for inviting us to your pool, Ashli!

Swim-tacular FHE

Ryan came home early from school today (at 2:00) because he had finished his *second* to last final. Even though he was tired (he had woken up at 1:30 am....yes, you heard me right, woke up at 1:30 am.....to study) we convinced him to go to the YMCA pool for the first time for FHE tonight. The kids and I had already been in the morning, but you can never swim too much, right? Just as I suspected, they loved having their daddy at the pool and showing him all their tricks. Kate really has turned into a great swimmer and she surprised Ryan with her swimming underwater skills. And I liked that I could leave him and get my camera to take a few pictures. Check out the big belly Sawyer has! And don't you just love his swimming "pants"! Sheesh, why are those things so long?





Ryan went down the big slide while Kate watched from the bottom (and Sawyer and I were drying off at a far away chair). Even from that distance, I could see Kate's excitement when Ryan came out at the bottom of the slide!It made us really excited for our *family vacation* we are taking when Ryan is finally done with his last final!

last day of swimming school

we sure loved out swimming lessons! Kate did so well with her teacher and has really learned so much. I took her to our pool yesterday and I had forgotten her floaties so we were forced to practice her new skills and it amazes me how comfortable she is getting at going under and swimming.

For the last day of swimming lessons they learned about life jackets and boat safety. Perfect for getting ready for our family reunion at Bear Lake!




I had to take a picture of Kate's hairdo because it was my first success with french braiding....we've tried and failed many times. And last, a picture of James and Kate

As I'm trying to learn more about photography and practice in manual mode I am definitely inconsistent. But one thing I am consistent about....when I try and take a picture of an adult I get really flustered and try and rush and never get the right exposure. Its like I'm embarrassed to ask for their time and don't want to take all my practice shots and I just feel dumb. Its weird. I'm weird. And I wish this picture was cuter. sigh....


After seeing all the cute teacher gifts and things my sister in law does, I was excited to finally have a teacher to give one to!
We loved swimming school and our new swimming skills!