Little Fishies

July 9, 2012

While I was visiting Lisa, I got to go with her to take the littles to their swim lessons.  Riley was super excited to show off his ability to jump off the high dive.  He was fearless!  I loved that he kept asking me, "Aunt Donna, did you get a picture of that one??"  Emily was a little more timid; her class stayed in the shallow end of the lap pool, mostly getting used to the idea of getting their little faces wet, blowing bubbles, and kicking their little feet while the teacher held them afloat.  I think it's amazing that with help from foster mamas like Lisa, these kiddos get to have experiences like this that they might not otherwise get to have.

Swimming at Midnight and Cake at Noon, 'Cuz That's How We Roll

July 31, 2010

Come On In...the Water's Fine

July 26, 2010

Summertime in July can be unbearably hot, unless you're surrounded by good company and a body of water. On one recent 100+ degree day, Jerilynn and I packed up the kids and we headed over to Aunt Julie's house. Her community has an amazing clubhouse with a big, beautiful pool, as well as a man-made lake where we could take the kids out on the paddle boats. Simple pleasures sometimes make the best memories.

Swimming and Me 'n Ed's Night, Otherwise Known as Recovering From Softball in 100 Degree Heat

July 19, 2010

More Summer Fun at Lisa's

July 12, 2010

More pictures from the trip I took with the kids to Lisa's house. It was fun for the kids because, well, it was swimming! All the cousins had a great time playing Marco Polo (the musical edition) and Colors and generally rockin' out to the tunes blasting in the back yard. It was fun for me because I got to play around with my new camera (Nikon Coolpix P100--a birthday present from my wonderful hubby). Since the old camera had a shutter slower than a turtle trying to cross the road, I never could have gotten some of these action shots with it.

The Joys of Summer

June 23, 2010

Last summer, our pool--our whole backyard--was virtually uninhabitable. It was sad and pathetic, and beyond our energy and resources to repair. But finally, after a lot of money and a lot of hard work (especially by Doug and our nephew Justin and his buddy), we have reclaimed our backyard and made it a place we all want to be to swim, bar-b-que, entertain, and just relax. I'd love to say our children never squabble anymore and that puppies and kittens smile and brighten the yard, but that's not entirely true. The picture below of Nicholas and Danielle was probably taken just before he dragged her under in an impulsive mischievous mood swing. But still, since there's more room to spread out, the kids are a little less in each others' hair this summer. Also, I'm pretty sure our cat Kelly does smile every now and again at all the fun being had, so there's that, too. Regardless, Doug and I are pretty proud of all we accomplished out there, and we love hearing the kids ask if they can have friends over to swim. Hooray for summer!