Ramblings: Fourth Fun

We crashed Grandma's pool for the Fourth of July and Maddie's family birthday party. I always welcome the extra eyes and arms when swimming with all the kids--it's alot less stressful. I haven't yet been brave enough to take Alex and the three non-competent swimmers by myself...even with the floaties, I'm a nervous wreck. But we had plenty of sun and splashing and everyone fell asleep on the drive home, so I know they had fun.

Yeah, I might need to investigate picking up a smaller pair of floaties for Aidan that will actually allow him the use of his elbows. Didn't stop him from splashing like the devil, though. Total deviants.

Maddie tested out her new "gobbles" in preparation for her swimming lessons that she started today. She can basically swim underwater the width of the pool, but it's not pretty. Kind of wild and flailing, but hopefully after her lessons finish in two weeks, she'll be a pro.

Alex's high flying circus act. He wanted to charge admission to watch him get rocketed up in the air. He's always trying to think of ways to get earn some cash--he's been bugging me to have a garage sale so he can sell all the toys we've bought for him and pocket the dough. I asked him how much he thought he could get for everything: "I don't know. Maybe like $7." Considering all the stuff he wanted to sell cost us about 43 times that much, we will NOT be having a garage sale anytime soon.

Aidan practiced balancing himself with his floaties to hold his head above water. He got a kick out of whenever his toes managed to float up to the surface.

How could Avery be expected to focus on swimming when grandma's "shoot it" (basketball goal) was within sight of the pool?

Avery and Aidan with their cousins, Tara and Cate--the girls appear rather scared of all the weird noises I was making to get the boys to look at me.

Maddie opened her presents after all the swimming, hence the shaggy haired look. She did enjoy the dollhouse as I expected, but not as much as the boys enjoyed throwing the miniature furniture at each other just as she got it positioned how she wanted. We've sequestered the dollhouse in her room and forbidden the boys from entering. Ha Ha. As the only girl, she may be getting a lock on her door a little sooner than anticipated.

So Jeremy couldn't wait for the ride home to fall asleep like all the others. He slept through the party but somehow woke up just in time for the fresh blackberry milkshakes. The berries are always tastier when you don't have to thrash yourself in the heat to pick them. Plus, anything mixed with some Blue Bell has to be delicious. I mean it, probably anything. So sad for those of you that can't experience the pure joy that is smooth and creamy Blue Bell ice cream.