Swimming Like Fish

That's right, we now have two swimming fish in our house. After a week of swim lessons, the kids are both loving the water and showing off their new swimming skills. Trip is now completely confident in the water without his vest. He will jump off the side and swim to the stairs all by himself. Sometimes his swim looks more like a doggy paddle, but he is still doing great! They even taught him how to dive from his knees, so maybe we'll get to work some more on that skill this summer. Mady has never had any fear of the water, so swim lessons were rather boring to her. She was not a big fan of holding on to mom and kicking. She just wanted to jump off the side and have someone pull her out of the water. :-) The instructor tried teaching her to grab the side after she jumps in, but she still reaches for me. The first day, the instructor told me not to grab her when she jumped in and to see what she did. Well...she just sat at the bottom of the pool waiting to be picked up. SCARY! I think we'll keep her swimmies on for another year.

Our busy summer is in full swing. First, we had Kaki stay with us for a few days. She got to go with us to swim lessons every afternoon. It was so nice to have here there because I had to be in the water with Mady, so she was able to entertain Trip. After their last swim lesson, the kids went to stay with the Garrisons and celebrate Nick's birthday. They had a great time and are still talking about it. Slumber parties with cousins are so fun! Then, Aunt Betsy came to stay with us for a few days. Trip and Mady love having her here so much! This past week was Vacation Bible School. We all had so much fun. Even Mady who was in the nursery while I volunteered had a great time. They made crafts and played on the playground each day. She felt like she was at her own VBS. And, of course, Trip loved it. He was in a group with all boys...2 middle school boys for his leaders, and 4 four year old boys in the group, all friends of Trips. He learned so much and was so excited to go each day. We were all sad and exhausted after the week was over.

Today we are still recovering from our busy last few weeks and celebrating all the dads in our lives. Happy Fathers day to TJ, Grandad and Grumpa! We love you all! You are all wonderful men, fathers and husbands. Thank you for teaching our children by your wonderful examples and love. And, a special note to Grandad...it's been a crazy year of uphill battles, and we are all so happy to have you healthy and cancer-free! As your daughter, it has been such a blessing to share in these struggles with you and see the power of our Lord and Savior as he works in your life. Thank you for being my Daddy!

I am attempting to attach the video the kids and I made TJ for Father's day. Hope it works!