Swimmers! Plural!

Yes, they love splash pads (and fountains) on hot, summer days, but this year both Will and Hallie made real progress as actual swimmers.

Will could swim last summer, but this summer he worked on his strokes and stamina. As far strokes are concerned, Will has basic knowledge of the front crawl, the backstroke, and the elementary backstroke. He struggles with front crawl breathing - after four or five strokes he stops and treads water for a few seconds to catch his breath - so he can't quite swim a full length of the pool yet...maybe next summer. And when he swims the elementary backstroke, he strokes much harder on one side than on the other and goes in circle rather than in a straight line. It's kind of funny...

Elementary backstroke in a circle.

Will's teacher pulling him back in the right direction.

Taking a breath (treading water) while swimming front crawl.

Going down the slide on the last day of class.

Hallie really came into her own in the water this summer, to the point that she actually earned her "I can swim" scooter from Grandma Brenda. (Will earned an "I can swim" scooter from Grandma a few years ago, and Grandma wanted to keep the tradition alive. I suppose that in a couple of years she'll have to buy scooters for Lily and Carter as well.) She had no reservations about putting her face in water, going under water, and going down the small slides at the beginning of the summer, and by the end of the summer she went down the big slide and actually swam.

Waiting patiently for her class to begin.

Getting ready to swim with Mr. Ethan (who was also her teacher last summer).

Singing (loudly) while waiting her turn.

Sometimes the goggles were more of a fashion statement.

Practicing on her back.

Going down the big slide for the first time.

Going across the lily pads for the first time.

SWIMMING!

So proud.

Splashin' Around

Our Summer Bucket List included visiting a splash pad, and when summer began I had ever intention of crossing this activity off the list by taking Will and Hallie to the spectacular splash pad near Grandpa Paul and Grandma Brenda's house. But as is often the case during our summer vacations in Wisconsin, time got away from us and we never made it to the splash pad.

Not to worry, though - the week after we arrived home, we stumbled upon a public fountain in which the kids could play. And play. And play. They spent close to an hour running through this fountain - in their clothes - with their friends Logan and Kendra. 

A week later we stopped by the less-than-spectacular splash pad in Bryan (it's shocking to me that College Station doesn't have a splash pad of its own) for another hour of running through and cooling off in the fountains and showers. 

Will and Hallie have as much fun at splash pads (and in fountains) as they do at the pool, which has reignited my desire to put a splash pad in our backyard...Dad? Michael? A project for next spring? 

The Big Sleepover

A couple of weeks ago, Will slept over at Logan's house. Hallie felt a little jealous, so Tom offered to "sleepover" with her at our house. They had a fabulous time, and I enjoyed myself as well; I popped in a couple of times to take pictures, but I otherwise kept to myself and read, wrote, and watched old episodes of Drop Dead Diva on Netflix.

The date began with a little singing, dancing, and making dinner in the kitchen. (This is my new favorite video of Hallie - "what's a fire, and why does it - what's the word? - BUUUUUUURRRRNNNN?!?!?!")

After dinner, they watched and danced to Cinderella (the Rodgers and Hammerstein version, starring Brandy as Cinderella).

And after the movie they read books in Hallie's room.

Tom intended to read his book until Hallie fell asleep, but as is usually the case, Tom fell asleep long before Hallie did. I know that Tom fell asleep first because if you look closely, you can see that she put a stuffed Eeyore on his face after he dozed off.

Tom woke up in Hallie's room around 2am, moved to his own bed and slept there until 6:30am, and then moved back to the floor in Hallie's room so that he was (still) there when she woke up.

Sweetest sleepover ever.

Round and Round and Round He Goes

It's rare to come across the kind of playground I played on as a little girl, and even more rare to find playgrounds that still have actual merry-go-rounds (at some point, the playground powers-that-be decided that spinning wildly on merry-go-rounds causes injury and much to my dismay, had nearly all of them removed).

We found an "old school" playground on our summer travels though, at Mahoney State Park in Nebraska. I absolutely loved watching Will - and then Hallie, once she'd watched Will for a while and figured out how to get on, stay on, and climb off - experience the thrill of a playground merry-go-round for the first time...just like I did as a little girl, Will ran around the merry-go-round until it picked up enough speed, leapt on, and then hung on for dear life until the ride slowed to a crawl. Over and over and over again.

I, on the other hand, rode the merry-go-round for only one full rotation before I had to hop off and return to my safe place at the covered picnic table. I didn't tell the kids it was because I thought I might vomit...

As a 34-year-old who now has motion sickness, the lion's head water fountain was more my pace.

Mini-Tom, Part 2

Though baby Will was the spitting image of his daddy, Will's look has changed over the years and I now think he actually looks more like me than he looks like Tom (except for his nose, which is 100% Ferris).

Hallie, on the other hand, looked nothing like either of us at birth (I actually thought she looked exactly like my camping cousin, Allison, for the first six months of her life), but has now taken over the position of Tom's mini-me.

Which is why I set up this photo comparison...

Tom, circa 1984-ish:

Hallie, last week:

Mini-Tom, right?

Mini-Tom, Part 1

When Grandpa Mike and Grandma Susie moved earlier this year, they came across a few boxes containing Tom's "most prized positions" from his elementary, middle, and high school years. The boxes came home with us at the end of our summer vacation, and because Tom couldn't bear to go through them - he HATES all forms of organizing, sorting, etc. - I volunteered to start the process for him.

The boxes held items that fell into three primary categories: awards and commendations (of which there are A LOT), high school photos (of which they are A LOT), and brain puzzles/games. The boxes also held a few outliers that the rest of the family has had a little fun fun with: a stuffed Eeyore for Hallie, a minature football for Will, and these glasses for me.

Ok, so they were Tom's glasses in elementary school, but they fit me now. He has a big head. I have a small head.

Here's a picture of Tom wearing the glasses, circa 1988-ish:

And here's Will wearing the glasses, last week:

A chip off the old block, that boy is...

Another Epic Battle

A few weeks ago, Tom and Will engaged in an epic, Star Wars-inspired sword fight (they even played Star Wars music in the background to make the battle feel more authentic) in the backyard.

Shortly afterwards, Will took the sword-fighting skills he'd learned from his daddy and turned them on his best friend, Logan. The boys chose noodles over swords as their weapons and the island in the middle of the swimming pool as their battle ground, and fought time and time again (seriously, like 25 times) to "the death". Logan must have learned a few sword-fighting skills from his daddy as well, because the two were very evenly matched.

Can't wait to see Hallie up there with a noodle sword next...