Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons have been going on this week for my kids. Javin has discovered that he knows how to swim, but he is going to have to work hard if he wants to be a really good swimmer. Last year he started learning rhythmic breathing and found it to be a different from the way he is used to swimming. So this year he is improving on his breathing techniques. It is good for him to have a challenge and really have to work on something. So many things he can do without much effort, it seems. Today was a highlight because they spent the whole session jumping off the diving board. As you can see Javin wasted no time getting a big jump off right away and some diving practice.

Kailyn has just blossomed at her lessons. On the thrid day she attempted swimming a few feet on her own and loved it. She was doing it over and over without her instructor. She was so excited that she could do it. Then today they worked on back floats and she just laid herself back and floated without any help. This is such a big improvement for her. She wants to swim and is going to just take off this summer I think. Hopefully we can get her confidence built. She always says she can't but now she knows that she can. A little more practice and she will be giving Javin a chase.

Spoiled Rotten

Today could be a very interesting day! After 3 solid days of pure spoiling by the beloved Uncle Darin, my kids are loaded with sugar - ice cream, fudge, doughnuts, pop, you name - and accustomed to entertainment from Ohio best rides at Cedar Point, local amusements at Putt N Stuff and operating on less sleep than normal. But I am ready! I have had my coffee, the time out chair is ready and a mandatory nap time is scheduled.

We had a lot of fun at Cedar Point this year. Javin was so excited because he reached the last height requirement for the roller coasters. So he put in a whirlwind day riding 13 major rides 18 times. He lucked out with the kid swap feature Cedar Point offers. Darin and Javin would wait in line while I took Kailyn on the kiddie rides. After their ride, Javin and I could go up the exit and he got to ride it again with me. So he got 2 rides for the wait of one. Cool! I don't think he realized the value of this feature, but I sure did.

He had several favorites: the praying Mantis ,that's what he called it (It's the stand up coaster, I think he liked it just because Mom doesn't.) and the Maverick (new for 2007 and very fun although a little bit rough) and the Raptor (still one of THE best rides). He even took on the Top Thrill Dragster, traveling 120 mph to a height of 420 feet. Now that's pretty brave for a 7 year old.

Kailyn was awesome at the amusement park too. She had a blast riding all the kiddie rides. I think we managed to get her to every single one at the 3 kiddie lands throughout the park. She really liked the Jr. Gemni roller coaster and rode it 4 times. She even tried the Woodstock Express coaster at Camp Snoopy even though it goes a bit faster. She liked it but didn't want to do it again. She was very brave too. She thought we should be called the brave family because we like to ride roller coasters. She's a little more timid about the fast rides than Javin was at her age, but I think she will come around in time. She also liked the sky ride and antique cars. What was amazing was that a 4 year old was still in a good mood right up to closing at 10 pm.

How to have a water fight

The temps have been really high for June in Ohio. So we have been enjoying the many ways of cooling off imaginative kids come up with. We've been swimming a couple of times and don't forget the barrel dunking I told you about earlier. So the latest fun has been perfecting the WATER FIGHT!
Good thing we had some willing participants after our Sunday BBQ. Thanks big brother Leroy for keeping the ladies out of it. The key to a successful water fight must be in the goggles.
So come prepared when you visit us again.

Fairy Princess

Kailyn's big ballet performance was this weekend. She was soooo cute! Her class was the Fairy Princesses. As she left the stage on the last night she added an extra spin and bow. It was so adorable. We were so proud of her. Javin even gave her a hug and kiss afterwards.


I loved this pictures of the girls peeking into the stage before their rehearsal began.

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It's HOT!

Summer is really here, I guess, because it is hot, hot, hot! So what do you do when it is hot? Go swimming of course. What do you do if you just want a little dip? Well, you fill up your trash barrel (otherwise known as the toy barrel) and jump in .


This has been the kids favorite pasttime lately. Javin set up a dunking booth like at the fair. When you hit the designated circle with a ball, he jumps in to the cold water.

However, today the barrel was a warm swimming pool with both of them in goggles under water. Anything to cool off!

It's never boring around here!

Field Day

Okay now it 's my turn to steal the computer. This is Javin. I have to tell you all about my fun Field Day at school. We spent the whole morning outside playing games. It was such a blast! The 6th graders planned all the games and took us around to each station. Mom even got to come and watch me. The best part was the water sponge game and capture the flag. I got the guys really wet with a sponge. And I was so sneaky that I stole the flag right out from under the guards nose! We even got to eat our lunches outside. What a fun day at school!

Me and my teacher! She's the best. I love school!