First swim class

Caroline finished her first swim class about 2 weeks ago. She has always loved the water and never been afraid to go under and get a nose full of water. So it was past time for some official swim lessons for this girl. She learned how to float on her back and front unassisted for 10 sec. and how to do the front crawl and backstroke with the help of a noodle. They also worked on things like jumping in the water and blowing bubbles. The progress report at the end of class had about 15 things the worked on. She of course passed and is started the level 3 class next week. She loved her teacher and the class as you can tell.
Will is also on his way to becoming a swimmer and will blow bubbles (from his mouth) and swim underwater kicking for about 5 feet. The only reason he is not taking swim lessons is I don't think he would pay as much attention to the teacher since the class is 30 minutes. Maybe after he turns 3 and is back in the habit of listening again after going to preschool.
I wish I had had my camera or phone with me yesterday morning. Granddaddy and Mimi got to swim with the kids yesterday morning and I couldn't tell who was having more fun!! They played in the lazy river and then on the play structure going down the slides for about and hour. They had so much fun!

First trip to the zoo

This is starting to really frustrate me! I hate not being able to see the pictures I am writing about. Oh well.

These are pictures from when we went to the zoo back in June with Nana and Papa. It was extremely hot that day, 93, so not many animals were walking around. But the polar bears were very active and that was by far the neatest thing to see. As you can tell they had a plexiglass tunnel you could walk through and see the polar bears on one side and seals on the other. The other picture of Caroline where you can just see her head is at the prairie dog exhibit. You could walk down some stairs and up into one of 3 viewing things if you were short enough. Really neat to be eye level with the animals.

Pushing things

Yet again I can't see the pictures. Will's favorite toys these days are what he calls "pushin things". AKA the hose attachments to my vacuum cleaner, a toy sword, and play golf clubs. They got their name because of the noise you make when you play with them. A psshhtin sound crossed with a shooting sound. When he plays with the wonderful water guns that granddaddy brought he asks if he can " push water guns" not shoot water guns. So far he doesn't hit with his pushin things!
Caroline is hanging on our pull-up bar. All I have to do is lift her up and she grabs hold with her hands and then in no time she is upside down. She can also pull herself back upright, I wish I had abs like that! It just reminds me that she needs to be back in a gymnastics class and Will too.

Justin gets back in town late late tonight and the kids and I can't wait. They have missed their dad something terrible.

A time for baking

I would write descriptions above each picture but for some reason all I see is a bunch of letters and numbers instead of the pictures.

These are from the kids and I baking Chocolate Chip Monster Cookies the other afternoon. I have a really hard time letting the kids help with the cooking sometimes. Only for the fact that While I am helping Caroline pour or stir then Will is being total boy adn getting into all the other stuff making a huge mess. But I finally got smart and while they were napping I measured and set out all the ingredients in little bowls. So I was ready. They had so much fun and it was a lot less stressful on me. Will figured out how to stick his fingers in the bowl while it was turning to get a taste and of course Caroline followed suit. The last picture ( I think) is of the kids modeling their new aprons from my cousin Laura. My kids love getting things from Julianna and Lydia because they know we also give all our clothes and shoes to them. I hear lots of talk daily about Julianna and Lydia. So thanks for the ggreat aprons. Caroline has worn hers daily since receiving it and tries to get Will to wear his too.

Justin is gone the next few days on his first trip with the new boss. Besides driving to the UP for a funeral and then getting on a plane to go to a change of command I am not sure where else he is going. He will be back early Friday morning. Caroline has already cried that she isn't going to get any daddy cuddles. I am taking the kids to hourly care on post so I can have some time for me besides when I exercise and will go to the library and pick out a book for me and get my allergy shot. The kids get the added benefit of playing with kids their age and some time apart. Which will make all the time they are spending together even better!

Lots of Laughs!

I can't tell what is where. The video is from when Nana and Papa were visiting. I was trying to catch Will's giggles. He thinks his sister is so hilariously funny sometimes and his laugh is so contagious! You get the idea in the video. The adorable pictues are of the kids after swimming eating freeze pops.

Happy 4th of July too! We aren't doing anything fancy besides what the kids are wearing. Caroline has been looking forward to wearing her red, white, and blue dress for months. Fireworks don't start until around 10 pm and that is past my bedtime so we will wait a few years before taking kids to see fireworks. We will grill a tenderloin for dinner and that's about it. Not very exciting unless you count Justin's fall while on his group ride this morning. Trying to be Lance but not quite there yet! pictures to follow

Backyard pool fun

Also while Nana and PApa were in town visiting we had some down time one afternoon and I had set the pools up during nap time so the water could warm up (have to do that up here!). The kids thought it was great and since it was hot out it was perfect. They had a blast and I got some great pictures of them eating Icees on the deck too. I will try and upload a video of them laughing, it's contagious. Will loves to jump and flop into the pool as you can tell from the pictures. Caroline screamed she was so excited. It is had to believe when you look at Will and can see his ribs, all of them, that he is only 7 pounds lighter than Caroline!

Henry Ford Village

Here are some pictures from when we took Nana and Papa to the Henry Ford Village. It is huge and we didn't see all of it as you might have imagined with two kids and Caroline wasn't feeling well and had a fever. But what we did see was so neat. They have a great collection of great old things and a real working farm using all the old tools. The ladies were in the kitchen cooking a great smelling meal and more ladies were out side doing laundry the old fashioned way. I thought my washing machine doesn't get my clothes very clean but I can only imagine what Will;s clothes would look like if I had to wash them in a bucket! We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed that in the car on the way home! But we did get to see an old saw mill, tinsmith, glass blowing (always my favorite), print shop, pottery shop, guys working on potato plants, baby sheep, a red cow, and ride an old steam train. They even have model T's that you can ride in.
I still have the museum to go through and will go back to the Village to see the rest of it someday soon.

The neatest thing that I have learned from going to the Herny Ford twice now is that he (ford) failed two times in the car business before finally hitting it big!