Peer Pressure

We have an incredible friend and physical therapist whose family provides "swimming therapy" and lessons for some children.  My children  had the privilege of acting as peer models during these lessons.  Through these sessions, my children have increased their swimming abilities greatly.  The positive peer pressure and mentoring has been reciprocal.  Of course, getting to swim between sessions makes for some happy kids too!  What a great summer!  

Here are a few pictures from today's session.

How silly of a face can she make?

Jacob works on upper arm and leg strength on the ladder.

Love those smiles!

He absolutely loves the water!

Lizzie heads down the ladder on her knees and works her way to the other side.

Lizzie and Kelsey!  We love Kelsey!

Lizzie works on her pull ups

 Yummy snacks after sessions 

She definitely enjoyed that one!

 Practicing their snorkeling skills

What a cute face!

Our Michigan Vacation

I admit, I cried when we left camp on Sunday.  We all had such a great time.  We made memories and the cool thing is that we each have our own favorite memory. 

I keep reminding myself of that Dr. Seuss quote:

"Don't cry because it is over.  Smile because it happened."

Our Final Full Day

We headed to the beach again on our final full day.  But, not before having Jacob's birthday cake for breakfast!  The temperature had dropped so it was much cooler and the wind on the beach was strong.  I felt like I was being stuck with tiny needles when in reality it was pieces of blowing sand.  The waves, though, were great.  Big white cap waves taller than me.  The boys spent most of their time out there swimming through the waves and jumping them.  It was yet another successful day at the beach.  We ended the day at the Bungalow for a steak dinner, ice cream at the local ice cream shoppe, a walk along the canal and then a boat ride with Papaw!

Happy 10th Birthday, Jacob!-

Kelsey says she will sit right there and wait for her piece of breakfast birthday cake!

Nothing like a little cousin wrestling after breakfast!

 Hey, this thing goes faster than they thought!

Jacob was directing traffic - let's go THAT way!

 

As they came around the bend, Jacob had a huge smile on his face.  Papaw let him drive the boat and let him drive it all out.  He loved it!

Katie checking out the water.

 Lizzie actually wore Kelsey's life jacket and fit into it!

Hanging out by Papaw's fishing boat and skipping rocks!

                      

 

Sadie can chase, catch and eat an entire rabbit, but when she sees a tiny fish she yelps and runs away!

Just don't get real wet.  Yea, right!

Zach was taking bets on who would come back from the boat ride soaking wet because they fell in. 

 His vote?  Katie!

Laughing when they made it in and nobody was wet!

Highlights of the day:

Birthday Cake for Breakfast
Huge Waves at the Beach
Dinner at the Bungalow
House of Flavors
Walk down the Canal
Boat Ride With Papaw
Lots of  visiting and playing!

What an awesome trip!  Already looking forward to next year!

Jacob's Birthday

July 6th is Jacob's birthday.  We celebrated by doing the things he enjoys most - water and sand.  I took the kids to the beach and this time I took my camera!  They had a great time.  We followed up the trip to the beach with heading to a restaurant for dinner.  

What a disaster.  The first restaurant had a LONG wait, so we headed to a local place that people bragged on.  We waited forever to get our drink orders taken.  She asked for our orders only to be told that we did not have menus.  She brought us menus and then 10 minutes later when we still didn't have our drinks and hadn't placed an order, we decided we would go somewhere else.  So, off to Pizza Hut we went.  It was fast and yummy!  

After dinner, we went to the beach and walked out to the lighthouse and enjoyed playing in the sand at dusk.  This was definitely a memory making evening!  By the time we got home, Jacob was so tired he didn't even want to eat his birthday cake.  He decided to wait until the next morning!

Building a water tunnel with a holding area

Ok, how far out will Brycen follow him?

The answer?  Not very far.  He liked running up and down the beach more than he liked being in the water.

Katie singing to the waves

Lizzie loved the waves smashing into her.

Jacob in his element - water!

Testing out the contraption Lizzie and Katie built

Look closely and you will see Lizzie under the water chasing Brycen.  They were playing sharks.

Some Lighthouse pictures

 

 As we walked on the pier, we found some small dead fish.  In this picture, Brycen is adamantly telling Mom that they are too little and he needs to throw them back in!  We said they were yucky and he just said, once again, "They are too little!  Throw them back!"

Playing in the sand at dusk.  Much fun!

Beautiful sunset

 Sand in our clothes?  Of course!  Katie was loving it. 

 Kelsey loved running up and down the beach

Then she would run and jump on Lizzie's lap.  

 Lizzie, Zach and Jacob checking out the scenery.

 Katie and Lizzie

 Not sure what she is saying, but she is definitely telling Lizzie something!

 Sand Angels!!!

 Zach looks out over the lake and contemplates his next fishing expedition.

Highlights of the Day:

Early morning fish expeditions

BEACH!

Waves

Sand

Pizza Hut

Leaving Rico's

Walk on the pier

Light house

Playing in the sand at dusk

Watching the cousins playing and getting along

Showers to get the sand out of every crack and crevice