Swimming Lessons

This was finally the summer I decided that it was important to have the kids take some swimming lessons. Both Erin and Jeffrey LOVE the water (each in their own way). They are both really comfortable with their arm floaties on but I wanted them to really start getting comfortable without them. Jeffrey especially. This boy has no fear when it comes to water. He is a madman. Loves to jump in and splash. Goes under the water. It's nuts. I decided that it really was essential that we get him some lessons so if he ever is around a pool or lake without his floats and somehow ends up in the water he might just be able to "survive" (for the 3 seconds it would take for mommy to become superwoman and get to him).

So for 2 weeks we had morning swim lessons at the local pool. It's an awesome pool that I wish I had discovered before. It is all beach entry and has a huge area that only goes to 2' 9" deep. The kids are able to play safely on their own without my having to hold onto them.

Class went as well as could be expected. Jeffrey's still not really a "class" kind of guy. He had a lot of trouble focusing and really just wanted to do his own thing. The teacher was pretty good about reigning him in...and anyway he's only 3. Erin was just the opposite. She loves the water, but on her own terms. She wants to take her time getting wet. Doesn't like to feel cold. HATES getting her face wet. So Miss Grace would have to give her a little extra encouragement too. I have no idea how she handled the two of them (with 3 other kids) together.

They worked on several skills including blowing bubbles, getting their faces wet, floating on back and tummy (supported by the teacher) and jumping in or going under the water. Jeffrey mastered anything that had to do with going under or jumping in immediately. He really is a fish. Erin was more comfortable and able to relax with the floating than Jeffrey was. When they asked him to try and float he'd stick every appendage into the air and flail around until he rolled out of the teacher's arms, sank to the bottom of the pool and shot back up with a big smile on his face. He did get it a few times though.

Erin really had trouble with the jumping in. She did NOT want to get her face wet at all. I think she also thought she couldn't stand where they wanted her to jump (she could). For 2 days she wouldn't do it at all. Then they coaxed her to go in from sitting. Finally they got her to step off the edge holding hands. It was a big thing for her do to and I was sooo proud when she did.

We did spend a few afternoons at the pool after lessons. They had a little frog water slide that both kids loved. Jeffrey also loved the mushroom waterfall, but Erin wasn't too keen on it (got her face wet). One afternoon Erin did discover that she could jump off into the water from a certain point in the pool. She did it over and over and over again. Having so much fun. But of course next morning in class NO WAY was she going to do it for her teacher.

In the long run it was a great two weeks at the pool. Both kids are certainly more comfortable in the water than they were before lessons. Jeffrey passed "Guppies 1" (the level they were on) easily. Miss Grace thinks Erin needs to get more comfortable so she'll have to repeat it if she keeps on with swimming classes (I think gymnastics is more her thing). So it looks like the one who HATED anything to do with the pool as an infant is the one who is going to be the family swimmer and the water baby might just be focusing on her cartwheels and bridges in gymnastics class.

Just in Case You Didn't Know

I was informed yesterday that..

"Mommy you wear boobies. You must be a Mermaid. Like Ariel."

Not quite sure what the appropriate response to that is.

Forget Something Dear?

Forgetting things seems to be a trend in our house right now. Maybe it's not forgetting but just being so busy you don't notice things. Like where you put your shoes when you took them off. Or where you left your blankie. Or what you did all day. But this morning we had the ultimate in forgetting things.

The kids and I headed into church this morning while Tom hung around to do some yard work before it got too hot. Erin needed her hair washed so I had her jump in the shower with me. After finishing our shower I helped Erin pick out clothes - a pretty flowered blouse and a skirt. I got them set aside for her, told her to get dressed and went to get myself and Jeffrey dressed.

Erin showed up dressed a few minutes later. After a quick blow dry of her hair and mine too we grabbed breakfast. While mommy gathered up everything daddy went through the usual...."well where did you take your shoes off?" "You can't go to church without shoes." "Please go find your shoes (which happen to be sitting 2 feet away in the middle of the living room but they still can't manage to find them)".

I pile the kiddos into the car and head off to church. We find out that church school will start after about 15 minutes of service so the kids and I head up to find some seats in the sanctuary. Being new to the "big kid Sunday school" Jeffrey's not keen yet on sitting in the sanctuary. I let him choose where we sat. Erin disapproved and explained that sometimes I just need to let her sit where she wants and be alone. Fine, I conceded, and she moved to the row behind us.

Through all of this I was trying to remind Erin that she needed to sit like a lady in her pretty skirt. After she moved behind us I looked back at her to find her not sitting like a lady at all.

Remember I started all of this with forgetting things. I glanced back at Erin to see that she had clearly forgotten......underpants. Yes that's it. She forgot to put on any underwear. And was sitting so it was clearly obvious that she did NOT have any on. I immediately turned a shade of beet red and made her change how she was sitting.

"Erin did you forget something this morning?"
"Ummmmm....I dunno"
"Think sweetie...when you got dressed. Did you forget something?"
"Maybe my panties"
"Yes dear, it appears you forgot your panties."

I sat there wondering what in the world I was going to do. I used to keep an extra pair for her in the Intrepid. But we had 2 problems with that. I brought them inside a few months ago since she doesn't have accidents when we're out for over a year. AND, I was driving the Sentra. No extra panties around. Then I looked at Jeffrey. There really was only 1 solution to my problem.

I walked Jeffrey into the bathroom and informed him that he needed to give his sister his Deigo undies. The result was a shrill scream and cry..."You CAN'T take my Deigo undies. Those are my Diego undies. I LOVE my Deigo undies. Then I won't have ANY Diego undies." All of his sentiments were actually correct but I needed to cover sister up. After a few minutes of consolation and explaining that I understand it's not as comfy without undies (this from the boy who needs to have shirt and shorts on in order to sleep at night) we left the bathroom with him sobbing at my side and me carrying 1 pair of Diego undies.

I nabbed Erin away from her Bubble-iscious (who found it EXTREMELY humorous that Erin left the house without undies) and discreetly put Jeffrey's coveted Diego undies on her. I don't know why I tried to be discreet about it because this just elicited another round of...."Those are MY undies....." with Erin loudly explaining to him "But I forgot to put panties on this morning. I need your undies." I tried as hard as I could to become invisible. Didn't work.

Moral of the story. Jeffrey's undies are coveted and never assume that your 5-year old daughter remembered to put on underwear when she got dressed.

Some More Sparkler Pictures

Here are a few more sparkler pictures that a friend of ours took. As you can see Jeffrey really did try them out this year (and honestly I wouldn't go near them until I was in college). Thanks to Mr. Jamey for sharing these with us.

Camp

Both kids got the chance to go to a short "camp" last week. The teacher at Erin's preschool organized 3 4-day camps throughout the summer. Each had it's own little theme. The July one is the only one we were able to sign up for due to some other things we had going on. Since Jeffrey is starting preschool 2 days a week in the fall I asked the teacher if he could try out the camp. He's been obsessed with Erin's preschool ever since she started going last fall. So he got his chance to try it out for a few mornings last week.

The theme of the camp was food and cooking. This is a perfect theme for my 2 kiddos who LOVE cooking (especially baking bread with daddy). I dropped them off the first morning and Jeffrey never even looked back. A little kiss from Erin and half a wave from Jeffrey and I was dismissed. Jeff had been instructed that it was very important he listen to his teacher if he wanted to stay at school (something I said in front of her as well so he knew she knew his instructions). To my surprise he made it through each day wonderfully.

They both LOVED the camp. They made all kinds of things. The favorites seem to be the mini pizzas, fruit kabobs (with different shaped fruit) and Popsicles. Erin also talked about a volcano (which she remembered bubbled up when baking soda, "red stuff", and vinegar were added). The best part though was the field trip to a local pizzeria. They got to ride the bus (a major addition to the excitement of the morning) to the restaurant. There they got a behind the scenes tour of how the pizza was made. They got the see the ovens and how the dough was made. I asked Erin if she saw them toss the dough and she just giggled at me. She said that the chef did but not Erin. They did let her touch the dough which she described as "really cold."

After the tour the kids got to make their own small pizzas. Jeffrey put sauce, cheese, pepperoni and bacon on his. And then apparently ran around the restaurant like a mad-man (so says Erin. Teacher didn't mention it). Erin didn't want sauce ("I don't like sauce at restaurants") and put cheese, bacon and more cheese on her pizza. Each ate one little piece and brought the rest home.

Wait, did I mention the hats? They all had little white paper chef hats they decorated themselves. One of the cutest things I've ever seen. Now the kids have something to wear when cooking with daddy.

Jeffrey had an awesome time at camp. I'm so glad he enjoyed it and am certain he'll enjoy school this fall. We really were lucky to find such a great school to fit with our philosophy of learning through play.

Happy 4th of July

We had a great and busy weekend celebrating the 4th of July. And although we had lots of fun everyone's pretty exhausted.

We started at the Annual 4th of July parade in town. Equipped with gallon Ziploc bags to pick up the flying candy (I still can't get over that...never seen it before) we headed into town. It was a little cloudy which made it somewhat comfortable instead of super hot. The kids had lots of fun. This year Jeffrey wasn't nearly as frightened by the fire trucks (the sirens really) and got really excited to see them. He was also enthralled with the tractors. Erin really just wanted candy. If someone marched by or drove by without throwing candy she declared them no fun. It is nice to have such a cute little community event to celebrate with though.

After that we spent the afternoon at Uncle John and Aunt Margaret's house for their "Don't Swear in Front of the Baby" party. There was tons of food, several kids to play with (one who brought a bunch of toy cars to entertain everyone) and ..... Rock Band (a video game or sorts). Both kids are now obsessed with watching this game that includes people playing drums, guitar and singing (somewhat like a karaoke band game). Jeffrey was quite upset when he wasn't allowed to sing, but I had to explain they just didn't have Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a option.

We finished the night off watching the city fireworks show from John and Margaret's back deck. Jeffrey was so excited about the fireworks. But about 10 minutes into the show he laid his head down on Aunt Margaret's ever shrinking lap (Baby John just taking up more and more space these days) and fell asleep. Missed the whole rest of the show poor kiddo. At least he stayed asleep on the trip to the car, the ride home AND the change into sleepy diapers once we got home.

Saturday was just as exciting. Mr. Johnbaker held his annual Crab Fest and cookout. We arrived early to help set up. Jeffrey was asleep in the car so we rolled the windows down and parked in the driveway so he could continue his nap. Erin helped babysit the crabs, which were less frightening this year than last. Once Jeffrey woke up and more people arrived they got into their swimsuits for some fun play in Mr. Johnbaker's little pool. For them this was the highlight of the day. Until it started raining that is. When the rains came boy did they come.

Remember I said that we left the car opened up so Jeffrey could continue his nap. Well, we he woke up no one thought to go back out and close up the car. Henceforth we had one totally flooded (and now very stinky) Intrepid. We spent all of yesterday airing it out. Running a fan. Tonight we're going to run a dehumidifier overnight to try and make sure it's as dry as possible.

Back to the party. Everyone congregated inside and the kiddos entertained themselves with the "Move It Move It" movie (Madagascar). When the rain started to slow down the kids went outside to play again. They were soaked again, and in their clothes by the time the rain really stopped.

Mr. Johnbaker finished the night with some fun sparklers and fireworks. Jeffrey enjoyed the sparklers much more this year than last. He even held onto them by himself. Erin continued to enjoy waving them around. The fireworks were great as usual but a little loud for Jeffrey. Maybe he'll enjoy them more next year. Once they were done it was time to head home with some borrowed towels from Mr. Johnbaker protecting our already somewhat wet clothes from getting even wetter.

So we certainly had a busy but fun weekend. Now everyone needs a good LONG nap.

Family Getaway

We decided to take our first "family vacation" this past weekend. We've never gone away just the 4 of us and I thought the kids were at the right age for a long weekend getaway. Well it was a little more stressful than Tom or I had hoped (Jeffrey really doesn't like to listen these days) but we had a great time doing some fun things together.

We left Thursday morning for Hershey PA. After looking at going a few different places we decided that was the most ideal because it was within close driving distance but had some fun things we could all do as a family - IE. Hershey Park. There was much excitement about staying at the hotel (which Erin continually confuses with hospital not sure why). I think much of this stemmed from the idea that there would be a pool at the hotel, which there was. Swimming is always at the top of the list.

We arrived early afternoon and got things stowed in the room. Since Jeffrey was asleep in the car we decided to head immediately over to Hershey to check things out. Our first stop... Chocolate World. Jeffrey roused just as we got there and both kids got immediately excited to start "cation" (vacation). Chocolate World is a free part of Hershey Park that includes a little ride that provides an introduction to Hershey's Chocolate. Complete with singing cows (a part of the tour that I don't remember from my visit nearly 20 years ago) it was a huge hit with the kids. Especially the free chocolate we got after the ride. Then they got the chance to become chocolate factory workers and fill a box with Hershey's Kisses. The best part being a paper hat which Jeffrey insisted on wearing for the next 2 days.

We then decided that it might be fun to take the trolley tour of the town of Hershey. It was a little pricey but ended up being totally worth it. The tour was really entertaining and even kept the kids attention for all 45 minutes (the free chocolates passed out again certainly helped). The tour guides also led the group in several period songs which Erin thought was the best part. Personally that was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Oh yeah a little about my trip. I went to be Wednesday night feeling cruddy. Woke up Thursday morning feeling crappy and didn't get any better. Determined to not let it stop us I self medicated my sore throat and eventual swollen and goopy eye with some Advil and NyQuil. There were some cruddy moments but nothing that kept us from keeping with our plans. Today though the goal is rest, rest, rest.

Back to Hershey. We arrived back at the park Friday morning right at opening (with mommy's medicated body in tow). The kids measured up as "Hershey's Kisses" height-wise for rides (and were provided with more free chocolate). This meant they were allowed to ride a large portion of rides but most had to be accompanied by mommy and daddy (which was fine). We charged on in to the park making our first stop to meet "Mr. Chocolate Bar". I expected Erin to go running up and Jeffrey to shy away but it ended up being the opposite. Jeff was obsessed with Mr. Chocolate and quite sad when it was time to say goodbye.

The kids hopped on a few rides including a Hot Air Balloon ride which was a hit and a rocket ride which was great for Erin and apparently terrifying for Jeffrey (too loud he said). Tom said he screamed throughout the whole ride. After a calming break on the carousel we continued into the park. We hit several other rides in the morning including the Skyride (chairlift ride), Flume (which Erin was sitting in front and got pretty frightened) and the ride where the kids could drive cars. Tom and I also hit one of the big coasters. They had a great plan for families where we would all stand in line together, Tom or I would ride the coasted while the other waited with the kids and then we would switch off. It was a great way to let mommy and daddy get a few thrill rides in.

We had thought ahead and packed some sandwich fixings from home and a cooler for lunch. Since admission back into the park was simple we took our picnic lunch at some picnic tables by the car. This then allowed us to grab our swimming gear for some fun at the water park section. We headed directly for the water park after lunch (with a few quick stops for some short rides on the way.) Once we got there we realized why the rest of the park was so quiet.....the place was mobbed. Tom tried to rent a locker for our stuff but found they were all sold out. After debating whether or not to try the water park we decided that we'd promised the kids some "swimming" so we would take turns with them in the water attractions.

I got first go. Both kids seemed obsessed with a large water-works zone that had lots of water spraying and dumping and some water slides. Once we got inside the kids played with the outside sprayers a few times. Since they were "Hershey's kisses" I had to stay with them the whole time (like I wouldn't anyway, the place was mobbed). They headed for a cargo net that led to the structure of the zone. Here we discovered that water poured from everywhere, squirted from all angles and totally soaked us quickly. Add in close to 100 children and it was pretty daunting. Erin got freaked out and refused to move. We finally got ourselves down off the structure and found a calmer area that had a water slide the kids could do. They had fun there for a few minutes but it was still a little nuts for Erin so I made the executive decision to try and find Tom, switch out watching the stuff and have him take them to the calmer area.

As we were looking for Tom we heard the loudspeaker announce....Due to turbulent weather in the area we are closing the Boardwalk and water attractions until further notice. Well this led to even more insanity and about a 15 minute search for Tom. Once we hooked back up we all got changed and headed back to the dry area of the park. Tom and I noticed that the line for the new super-coaster was pretty short and convinced the kids it was "our turn" for a ride. We waited about 20 minutes and the "turbulent weather" caused them to close that ride too. So we decided to seek shelter under a nearby tree (and once the rains really hit under the shelter of a concession stand).

After about 45 minutes of rain ( in which the kids ran around splashing in the puddles and making their own water park) it slowed enough for them to reopen some rides. We hopped on a few with the kids and then got in a short line for another coaster. After Erin's 2nd coaster that she was informed she was too short to ride we found one that the kids could ride. When we got there there was absolutely no line. For a kiddie coaster it was pretty good. We even let the kids run around and get back on again. Jeffrey even thought it was great. We continued the evening taking advantage of the short lines. Combine the rain with a large concert (Dave Matthews) nearby and the lines were the shortest I've ever seen at a theme park. We ended up closing the place down. The kids certainly tested their limits but overall were good and had a great time at the park.

After spending the whole day at the park on Friday we decided NOT to head back on Saturday. Instead we went to Hershey Gardens which has a notable children's garden and a butterfly exhibit. We spent the morning there and the kids really enjoyed it. The children's garden was actually a great area with lots of small fountains, flowers to intrigue the kids, musical gardens and the butterfly house. After the gardens we decided to take in a movie (WALL-E) which the kids loved. Then we drove down to Gettysburg, the second half of our trip. Once we got to the new hotel mommy took a little rest and daddy took the kiddos swimming, something they'd been waiting to do for days.

Gettysburg was more a stop for Tom and I (OK well really me. I really wanted to see the new visitors center and figured the kids might enjoy being able to explore the battlefield). The new visitors center is really impressive with a wonderful and FREE exhibit on the entire Civil War, with a focus on the battle at Gettysburg. Not really geared for the kids but enough interactive films and "camp life" exhibits that I could keep their interest.

We decided to purchase a book with a driving tour of the battlefield that we could take on our own time. A real battlefield guide would have been cool but not so sure the kids would have put up with him. So after another picnic lunch we headed out to see the battlefield. The kids showed some interest but not a whole bunch. They did like getting out to look at some of the monuments (one made to look like a tree with a robin's nest was particularly memorable) the canons or climb the observation towers. They really enjoyed hiking around on Little Round Top and climbing around in Devil's Den. So while they probably didn't get much history out of the trip they did enjoy the day.

After a dinner at a local ale house (can't drive by one and NOT stop) which was actually really good we took the kids to play mini golf and get some Ice Cream. They both had a blast golfing. Jeffrey certainly has his own method of golfing but at least he has fun with it. We did have to sit aside for a few minutes and let a big group of loud Boy Scouts play through since a 3 and 5 year old don't play mini-golf very quickly. Erin's already asking to go back and play again some time.

Monday morning we woke up, checked out of the hotel and briefly walked through the Gettysburg National cemetery. By mid morning we were headed back to Virginia. Jeffrey got very upset that "cation" was over and started crying. Erin was ready to head home though.

When I ask the kids what their favorite part of vacation was Erin says, "I liked the rides." Jeffrey will tell you "I liked Chocolate World (which I think means anything in Hershey)." So I'm glad they had a good time hanging out with mommy and daddy for the weekend.