The biggest news I have to report is that Reese passed her swim test. At our pool children under the age of 8 need adult supervision with them in the pool for them to swim. You can take a test to be in the pool without adult supervision and to be able to swim in the deep end alone and jump off the diving board.
Reese has taken swim lessons every summer since birth and this year I put her in them one last time as a refresher from last year. I can not say enough great things about her swim teacher because Reese is a champ. Our first day at the pool this summer a lifeguard suggested I put her on swim team. Reese declined this year but I am thinking about it for next summer. I talked to her ALL week about taking the swim test. She was very hesitant and unwilling to do it that whole first week.
The last two summers she would go off the diving board but Ryan, my Dad, or a lifeguard would tread water in the deep end when she jumped to make sure she was ok to swim to the side. On Saturday we were at the pool and she saw another little girl take the swim test. She quickly agreed to allow the lifeguard to watch her swim and she ACED it with flying colors. She did an almost perfect freestyle stroke. Her only weakness is not rolling her head to the side to take a breath, instead she pulls her head straight up before going back down for more strokes. She also floated on her back for the 20 seconds required and doggie paddled as well. Her reward was a popsicle from the lifeguards and a night at the fro yo place from us. I was super pumped for her.
Now she can go off the diving board without an adult in the deep end and she is loving life. Of course I am still in the pool with her and I watch her jump off the board while Brynn and I stand at the threshold of the deep end. All the lifeguards who have seen us every summer have all commented how much she has improved since last year.
Brynn hangs out in her puddle jumpers, “wimming” as she says. She has been doing really well kicking her legs, blowing bubbles, floating on her back and belly. She even jumps off the side and LOVES being thrown up in the air so she can crash down in the water. As soon as she pops up from under the water she says “again”. She is loving the pool as much as Reese does. Which is good because we go there almost everyday!
On Tuesday afternoon we were one of two families at the pool. Reese was the only kid there old enough to swim in the deep end and she made use of her time. I swear she jumped off the diving board 40 times in a row. I couldn’t believe how many times she got right back up and enjoyed her freedom. Needless to say we got home from the pool around 5 and by 6 she was passed OUT. I woke her up for dinner and she was so asleep I was having to shake her to wake her up. She was DOG tired. She made it to the table long enough to have one bite before she went back to the couch to rest again. She was pooped. Mission accomplished.
At Reese’s school in the summer two of the teachers come in on Tuesdays and have a day for the kids to come play. It’s called Terrific Tuesday. From 9-2 kids of all ages can go to the school/Church and play in the baby pools, on the playground, with the toys, and eat sno cones so the Moms can go run errands etc. I needed to get a few things done at the house for the kitchen renovation so I sent BOTH girls. It was Brynn’s first time headed off to “school” and she was THRILLED. She carried her own lunchbox and when a friend asked her if she was going to school she would proudly pat her chest and say “Brynn”. She greeted all our neighborhood friends who were there as well and had a GREAT time. She did really well and I know she had a blast.
We are in the process of growing Reese’s bangs out (get me a gun) but with the use of hairspray I have FINALLY convinced her to clip her bangs back out of her face. As you can see she looks like a totally different kid!
As I mentioned before our kitchen has undergone a MAJOR renovation. In January we decided (I talked Ryan into) redoing the kitchen from top to bottom. So he begun painting all the cabinets and the walls. We finished that right before kickball season starts and our Saturdays were full. Finally after I stopped teaching Stroller Strides and was home long enough to be here for installation, we ordered the granite and it was installed on Monday. We also got a new fancy HUGE sink. We are getting our new cooktop installed today and the tile backsplash will be done this weekend (by Ryan and myself). I am super excited to have it all done. I know Ryan is too because he has been working his ass off the last two weeks. I am in LOVE with my new kitchen.
Here are some pictures from when we moved in. You can see we had darker wood cabinets, boring walls, tile backsplash and counters (with wicked sharp corners)
I will post more pictures once the stovetop and backplash are in but there is the new kitchen in a nutshell.
We’re off to visit Kingwood next week, but first this weekend the girls are going to camp overnight with Oma and Opa in their camper.
