The Start of Summer!

The kids' favorite thing to do in the summer is swim. Our friends' down the street went out of town for a week and gave us a key to their house. It was the perfect way to start our summer vacation. We spent five straight days in the pool, took a one day break, and then we were back in the pool. On a  couple of those days, we were there for about five hours which included a poolside dinner. 

 

I grew up in our backyard pool and spent my summers swimming in it. I loved watching the girls play together and doing similar things that my sister and I did. 

Kyle got used to being in the pool without a floatie. Hopefully next summer, he'll learn how to swim.  

Makena took her beloved life vest off and started swimming instantly. A week in a pool by ourselves has been the perfect time for her to strengthen her skills. Makena doesn't like it when I take pictures of her, so she'll stick out her tongue or make a silly face. It doesn't bother me. I still take pictures of her!  

Karis, on the other hand, loves when I take pictures of her. 

This guy is hit or miss with pictures. Today was a good day!

 

When Daddy joins us, he jumps off the diving board with the kids. Or in this case, gets pushed off.

 

The girls love when Daddy throws them across the pool. Kyle likes when Daddy catches him at the bottom of the slide. 

Daddy may have let him go under to get him used to it. He's still working on that. 

  

Little Swimmers

Karis and Makena had their first swim lesson today. Their classes are at The Y for the next two weeks (30 mins, M-Th). The last few days, they went back and forth between being super excited and not wanting to go. I could tell they were a little nervous this morning as they both were full of questions. 

They did some simple exercises with their swim teacher. She was very sweet and encouraging. Half way through the class, Makena turned around and said, "Mommy, mommy, I like the swimming lesson so far!"

I'm glad they are in the same class and get to be together. 

They did great today and loved the class. They are excited to go back tomorrow. Kyle got to have lunch with Daddy at work today while I took the girls to their swim lesson. Since the girls were nervous about the class, I was thankful that Derek had the time to hang out with Kyle so I could focus on the girls. Going forward, I'll be busy keeping Kyle occupied and out of the pool for a half hour.

Vacation - Day 2

We slept in the first morning. I could hear lots of little feet at our door and up and down the stairs. The cousins anxiously waited for our kids to wake up. It was non-stop play the rest of the day.

We enjoyed our first cool day (upper 70's/low 80's) in the pool. Grandpa came up later in the day and stayed with us until Thursday.  

I can't wait until Kyle is old enough to play alongside the boys.

The water was cold and it took some time to get used to.

Of course Karis wasn't bothered by the cold water.

Warming up in the sun. 

Derek received the "Daddy of the Day" award for getting into the cold pool with the girls.

Hanging out

Fun in the Sun on Labor Day

We spent the last day of summer soaking in the sun!

Litte girl.  Big pool.

Can you tell Karis is having fun??

Aunt B's visit

Aunt Nysha (aka Aunt B) came with Nana to visit the girls recently.  Now that she has moved to AZ, we all are hoping to see her more often.  

The girls had a blast!  They got their toenails painted a pretty purple.  

They spent several days at the pool.  Makena enjoyed the water, but most of the time she just liked being held.  But she did float some (thanks to Julie Emo helping her learn to float).  She was even courageous enough to jump into the water.  She was initially trying to jump into the pool near the ladder, but Derek wasn't a fan of the railing and other people around.  He asked Makena, "Would you please jump off the ledge for me?"  Aunt Nysha quickly pointed out the irony in that statement.

As always, Makena enjoyed the snacks....

Here is the fun parts of our brave child.  

It's fun jumping in the pool, but Karis wanted to be tossed across the water. Derek loves the sequence where Nysha realizes she may have thrust Karis a bit too hard in the air.  He was quite thankful I caught those shots with my camera.  

During the consult, Karis said, "Again please!", so we knew she was fine.   Not wanting to be a human missile, Makena kept her distance and played in the kiddie pool.  

A Wet Friday with Karis

No, I'm not referring to her diapers. =)

Dad got Karis dolled out in her rash guard and short shorts for the pool. We even took the floatie. Yes, I did put some sunblock on her and let it soak in before being exposed. I think we tooled around in the water for about 1/2 hour. While there, she managed to swallow a small amount of water... twice. She likes lunging forward and face-planting. It allows her to get her face just past the inner floatie and into the mesh material that connects to the outer floatie.

Here's a photo for reference:

While at the pool, I managed to sink a bluetooth earpiece in the pool. I let it dry out and it powers up, but I haven't successfully been able to connect it to phone or turn it off. Strange.

We showered off at the pool. Heading Lena's advice about having trouble getting Karis out of the rash guard, I removed it at the pool while she was still happy. Good one! I figured Momma wouldn't consider that a bath, so I bathed Karis at home in the big tub. It's much roomier than her infant one.

But all that water excitement must have fired her up as she didn't fall asleep during her afternoon nap time. Uh oh!

Summer Days

It sure has been hot the past month or so. Unfortunately, we've had to run the A/C every day to stay cool. I wish I could say that we've been spending every day at the pool, but I can't. It's actually a lot of work to get all geared up, dressed, lathered with sunblock and down at the pool when Karis is awake for no longer than two hours at a time (and that has to also include taking a bottle that she takes her time with).

But, we have made it down to the pool a couple times. Each time we go, she seems to enjoy the water more. At first, she didn't really pay attention to the fact that she was in a large pool of water. Now she is more aware and enjoys playing with the water. She definitely enjoys it more when her cousins are hanging out with her.

Here she is sporting her new bathing suit that Aunt Stephanie bought her.