A Little Street Cred

E was mentioned on our school's website!

(sorry for the screen shot pic)

2012 Shark's Picnic

To say that swim team was a good experience for E this summer would be an understatement. She shone; our family was incredibly proud of her hard work. She was up every weekday morning for a 8am-9:30 workout and practice and she really swam her hardest at each meet. Her times vastly improved over the corse of the summer! Good work Sweet Girl!



In League Champs, the final meet of the season which included 5 or 6 teams, she placed 2nd in the 25 yard Backstroke and 3rd in Mixed 100 yard Freestyle for her age group (that's out of 30 or 40 some odd kids in those events)! We're already looking forward to next year!

N's First Swim Lesson

Swimming lessons have been a top priority for our family. I took them every summer until I earned a Red Cross Certification, E's been in the water since 2 1/2 almost year round, and now it's time for the boy. He's reverted back to his clingy self as of recent, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I gave him the rundown, and he had loads of questions. It helped that E was already in the water doing "her lesson," and he just got right in! For the most part he listened attentively and participated in everything (at one point he even shot off the raised dock to imitate his teacher only to find himself near the bottom of the pool...coughing a sputtering he have me a soggy smile while his instructor placed him back on solid ground, undeterred in the least).

*You can see E watching from the far left lane on the other side of the pool and cheering him on!

E's First Swim Meet

E was all smiles during all 4 of her events (she must have swallowed a gallon of water with her mouth open like that). She competed with other 7/8-year-olds, and felt great about the experience. I was volunteering the entire evening as a timer, so I didn't get to focus on her like I would have preferred, but her 4 grandparents were in there in full force along with N, I was so thankful for their support.
   

*This cracks me up every time. She's swimming, but more interested in spotting her grandparents on the side.

The 3rd time's not so charming.

D went swimming with his phone in his back pocket...again.

Vacationing Quote

"I like vacationing better than homing."
-E

Bigger & Better

Our friend's are selling their house and are unable to set up their awesome pool this year, sooooo....we get unlimited access to it on our front lawn! Both kids are pretty tickled!

Di-Di-Di-Dive!

E learned how to dive in her lessons today!

(get into position)

(lean)

(push off)

(splash!)

("Did you see that Mama?")

Sun-Day

D's been working a lot lately, a-lot. I really look forward to the weekends when he makes a pretty good effort to put down the guitars and just be part of the family. I'm really not looking for too much on the weekends, just some time together, when I don't have to be the only set of hands trying to manage an 8-week-old and a 4-year-old all day and night. Today the weather was warm and we needed a few things to bring the temperature down to a reasonable level: Molly Moons, the Green Lake wadding pool, and a trip to the park with some friends, with a stop-off to watch the sunset before bed. I love my family.

(Molly Moon's Ice Cream)

(Under My Umbrella)

(Can You Spot the Apple of My Eye?)

(There he Is!)

(Yup, her too)

(We love our Daddy)

(Kick Board with Goggles and Sun Hat...)

(First Dip)

(Swing)

(When It's Right You Just Know It)

(Storing up Beautiful Memories)

"We Did It Mayor, We Did It!"

According to the Save Yost Pool website:

Yost Pool will open this summer!

On April 21, the mayor of Edmonds declared that Yost pool would indeed open this year. The efforts of our citizens to bridge the budget shortfall that the city was experiencing has paid off, as the city will not have to put any funds into the running of the pool for summer 2009.

As part of a three part solution to save the pool, the citizens proposed a plan to increase pool fees to market rate, revise the pool schedule and staffing, and fund raise to make opening the pool a reality this summer.

About 1,000 citizens contributed donations to the save Yost pool effort, totaling over $53,000.

A big 'Thank You' to all who came together to save Yost Pool.

Swim Style

We put E back into swimming lesson's again after a much needed break. She'd been in preschool level 2 for over a year and really showed no interest in progressing. We're now back to it, and I take advantage of her 25 minute time slot and get in some splashing time myself, I am surprised each time I waddle into the water at how absolutely fabulous near weightlessness can feel

Her class is small and one of the little girls that's in her class comes each time with a swim cap, and E just has not stopped talking about it. She's wanted one now for weeks. So we stopped by a sporting goods store yesterday afternoon to see what they had, and immediately she grabbed the pink swirly silicone cap, and before I could even interject a syllable she was already perusing the kids goggles to find a matching pair...oh. "Well," I said, "if we're going to buy these for you today, I'm going to need to see the very best effort you can give at the rest of your lessons, can you promise me that?" "Oh yes, Mama, these will help me swim my best." Before we took the items up for checkout, I had her try them on and, well, as you can see it was hard to keep a strait face.


So we got the matching duo, and headed home. Right away she found her swim bag, placed all the things she'd need for her lesson the following day inside and set it on the stairs ready to go. "Well," I thought, "she's at least giving her best effort in getting ready for her lessons." Usually we're in a slight rush in the mornings gathering up towels, her Crocs for the shower, a comb, etc.

Well, this morning I decided to forgo my own swim time and just watch her lesson from the deck. As luck would have it, she was the only one from her class to show up, so she got a private lesson! Her instructor noted her new cap and goggles, and got down to work. The one thing that has really held E back in her lessons is her comfort level for floating on her back, she's afraid she'll sink and just cannot relax (she's been this way since infancy though, had always hated changing tables, so we'd have to change her on the floor). Today though, she practiced and practiced and by gum she's got it (she even threw in a little backstroke to the surprise of her teacher)! I was so happy to watch on the sidelines this morning and cheer her on. It was the perfect combination of events that came together for an amazing result.

Save Yost Pool

Our local outdoor pool may be closed this summer (and some fear forever). A motivated group of people are trying to save it and are taking donations to keep it open. E's taken lessons here for the last 2 summers, and it really would be a shame to see it go, it's one of the things that's so great about our little city. But like everything these days it's all about the dollar sign, I'll keep you posted about the outcome.

King 5 story
The Beacon story

A Week of 1st's

We just got back from Phoenix, and I can tell you we are beat! We just packed in the activities, and the week was not without it's surprises. The biggest of all is that E's swimming! We took this video of her first ventures across the pool, you can hear our amazement!

Arizona 2008

We try and make a trip down to see D's grandparents at least once a year, this time it worked out for the end of their hot hot August. 110 nearly everyday. Needless to say we were in their pool a lot. We also squeezed in an overnight trip to Camp Verde for a desert train ride, and a visit to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, where we were amazed to see trainers swimming with tigers, had close encounters with giant snakes, and fed a giraffe! We were also lucky enough to talk D's uncle into saddling up Sacaton so E could take her first horse ridding lesson. The heat brought us indoors to air-conditioned movie theaters, the mall and In-N-Out Burger several times. It was a relaxing trip where all the worries of home-life just melted away as we were doted on, the way grandparents do. It was a fantastic end to our summer. Thanks so much Benny and Hilda can't wait to see you guys at Christmas!

(On the Train w/Great Grandma)

(signed artwork)

(prickly pear)

(face time)

(black and white)

(no thanks)

(cactus)

(In-N-Out "Booger")

(Irrigation Run w/Buster)

(Slide)

(Backseat Cousin Conference)

(Our Little Cowgirl)

Come on in, the water's........not fine.

Not how you'd want to start your day:

Shark found in Australian pool

Jul 10, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — A shark was found in a swimming pool at one of Sydney's most popular beaches Friday, apparently swept into the baths by a freak wave.

The one-metre (3.3 foot) shark turned up in a rock pool situated next to the open ocean at Cronulla beach.

Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club spokeswoman Robyn Cole said fisheries officers netted the shark and released it back into the sea unharmed shortly after members of the public reported its presence in the pool Friday morning.

"It was quite calm, just swimming happily up and down at one end of the pool," she told AFP.

"It's funny, though, because we have swimmers who come here at 6am every morning to do laps. It's still dark then and they mustn't have even noticed it was there."

Cole said the shark must have been swept into the pool overnight by a large wave.

"It's the first time we've had a shark in the pool," she said. "We've had seals sunbaking there before, and get dolphin at the beach all the time, but I've never heard of a shark getting caught in a pool before."

Lake Chelan 2008

As always the weather was hot. As always the water was cold. The combination made for a very enjoyable week-long trip.

(drivin' there)

(campfires)

(kayaks)

(naptime)

(behind the boat)

(driving the boat...in circles)

(Auntie Gloria)

(new freckles)

(water slides)

(racing)

(out to lunch, literally)

(bath in a box)

(go-karts)

(swings)

(bike ride along the lake)

(Gram and Papa)

(Uncle Bennett)

(building sand castles)

(playing catch)

(walk in the woods on the way home)

(by the river)