Swimming Lessons

Rachel has taken swimming lessons this summer, and I can officially say that Rachel can swim. Okay, she can't swim an extremely long distance, but she can swim. I didn't measure it officially, but my estimate is that she can swim about 10 or 12 feet. That's both good and bad. I'm glad she can swim, but now she wants to not wear her floaties anymore, so I need to be right with her all the time. It's good, because when she does wear floaties, she just relaxes and floats, and doesn't swim, but when she doesn't wear floaties she is becoming a stronger and stronger swimmer. Now my challenge is to convince her to wear floaties when I want her to. It's a challenge because she enjoys the freedom of not wearing floaties.

The Week in Review

We, like pretty much everybody else, have been dealing with a heat wave. Because of that we have been to the pool nearly every day this week. The heat is much less oppressive when you are lounging in water. Just sayin'.

Rachel make a raft for herself to lounge on at the pool.

If we don't go to the pool we play in the sprinklers in the back yard.

On Tuesday Jeff was with the girls while I was at rehearsal. He reported to me that they had been awfully quiet. Turns out that Rachel found a sharpie somewhere, and decorated herself and Gabi. I learned that sunscreen spray (SPF 50) is very effective in removing sharpie from skin.
In keeping with the artistic theme, I got out some paper and paint for the girls to get creative.

Let's face it. Those girls are talented!

A day at the zoo

Started with a ride on the carousel. Last year when I took the girls on the carousel Rachel said she wanted to too, but as soon as it started she leaned off her horse and clung to my neck, and all this while I was holding the then 1-year-old Gabi. Last week when we went to the baseball game the girls rode the carousel there and they both loved it, so we did the zoo carousel again, and both girls loved it again.

Then we looked at a bunch of the animals. Both Rachel and Gabi really like animals, so that was fun. We also ate lunch.

Next we went to the splash park there. It was a pretty hot day, and and the water felt great. Gabi really didn't want to leave, but it was getting late, and both girls were getting tired. (Not to mention me and Grandma who was there too.)

We really wanted to see the new polar bear and sea lion display, so we went there before we left. We didn't stay too long because we were all seriously getting worn out.
They both fell asleep in the car on the way home. Not surprised at all!

That evening we got together with Jeff's mom and Brian and Amber and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 in anticipation of seeing part 2 today. Rachel and Gabi played with their cousin Rose while the "grown-ups" watched the movie. At least that was the plan. Its success was suspect. It was a very long day and the girls had yet another late bed time.

The Pool

Rachel just finished another round of swimming lessons. This time we signed up with a girl in our ward who just recently moved here. Different than the lessons at the YMCA we did earlier this summer, her teacher doesn't have the children wear any type of flotation device. Rachel loved the lessons. She loves the pool in general. One of the teacher's emphases this time was to teach Rachel to put her face in the water. Rachel's face often ended up in the water, but it was because she sunk. She just couldn't seem to tuck in her chin and put her face in the water.

Last night we went to the pool for an evening swim/desire to wear the girls out, ergo easy bed time. Rachel voluntarily tucked her chin and swam with her face in the water. And she did it over and over again.

It's fun watching her make progress in the pool.

Next year Gabi will be in swimming lessons too.

Opera

I think Rachel might have a future in opera. Tonight she found some music, put it on the music stand and she and Gabi started singing. And oh my! How they sang!

Baseball Game

Last night we went to a Louisville Bats game. Jeff got tickets from his work. I think we might have watched a total of maybe 1 inning worth of baseball. The rest of the time we spent watching the girls play. They have a couple of playgrounds there at Louisville Slugger Field, as well as a couple of other entertaining things for kids to do, like a carousel. Rachel rode it twice and Gabi rode it once. They both wanted to ride it more, but it wasn't free, so we drew the line. Nevertheless, the girls had a great time.

We only lasted until the end of the 8th inning. It was getting late, and way past the girls' bedtime. When we left we were down 2-0. When we got home we learned that we won the game 3-2. I guess we should have stayed for the last inning.