More Swimming and Monkeying Around

After our day trip to CT we stayed in NH until yesterday enjoying the pool and the (much!) warmer weather than we had for our last visit.

Since Daddy was home working and Grumpy was working too, Gram and I did most of the swimming and playing.  Since MiniM.E. is so much better at swimming now and always wants to be in with no floatation device, someone always has to be with her, and LittleL.G. is so fickle about the cool (88? really??) water that she kept wanting to run back and forth between the big pool and the hot tub, so I was left with little time for photo opportunities.

Fortunately I got a few of the girls enjoying themselves.

A few on the swing set

And one of MiniM.E. on the NEW monkey bars Grumpy installed for her! Thanks Grumpy!

A Quick Trip to CT

Today we drove down to CT with my mom to go to my cousin's daughter's baptism (first cousin once removed doesn't sound as good).  It was nice to go down and see my aunt and uncle and cousins and the kids since we hardly see them- usually at Christmastime and maybe once more during the year.

It was a quick ceremony and then we went to a small party to celebrate.

watching with L.

All dressed up!

MiniM.E. is the oldest of the kids, my cousin's son is almost three and her daughter is just a couple weeks older than LittleL.G.  The girls played really well together.  My cousin's daughter loved MiniM.E. and kept hugging her and following her around, which was really cute.  Her son was so excited to have everyone around that he was a little wild for MiniM.E. but they did have a great time playing with the hose together.

After the party my aunt and uncle took us to Rich's Ice Cream.  It was so crowded it took almost half and hour to get ice cream, but the girls and I had a good time watching the cows and playing on the stairs while we waited.  Best dinner ever!  After ice cream we got in the van and drove to NH where we'll stay for most of the week.

It was really nice to see everyone!

The End of Swimming Lessons

We just finished up the whole three weeks of swimming lessons today. It was a huge commitment to drive down to Clifton Park every day, but it was SO worth it. And it really was a lot of fun. We arrived early every day to play in the kiddie pool and most days we stayed to have lunch and play on the playground. A couple days we even bought guest passes to the pool and stayed to swim.  LittleL.G. finally got excited about swimming too.

And MiniM.E. has really come to enjoy the lessons and even wanted to sign up for more this summer.

Of course, there is a waiting list for the second session and we have lots of plans for the rest of the summer, so it wouldn't have worked out. But we are definitely signing up again next summer.  I never imagined she would make so much progress in just three weeks!

Our summertime weekends might always start with a Friday afternoon trip downtown... It's a quick trip since LittleL.G. naps until almost 4 some days and the girls like to be home for Daddy, especially on Friday's to welcome the weekend.

We started out on a carousel ride.  MiniM.E. rode a horse, of course, and LittleL.G. still insists on riding on a bench.

This week the ducks were hungrier but we saw only a few babies.  I guess they grow up fast and we haven't been downtown much this summer!

Happy Weekend!

Lunch With Baby G.

We were lucky to get to see Baby G. again this week.  Our weekly play group had lunch at his house. The girls played, the not-so-new-at-two moms tried to help out and get lunch together and the not-so-little-anymore babies played with the big kids or watched the excitement.

And of course everyone wanted a turn holding the new baby.

A Long Weekend in NH

Week two of swimming looked a lot like week one of swimming, with a lot of improvement, but also a lot of the same: kicking, floating, scooping, etc.  I knew that what MiniM.E. really needed was some time to practice what she's been learning, but with swimming taking up our entire morning, and nap taking up most of our afternoon, there just hasn't been time to get to another pool to practice.

Fortunately, this past weekend we had TWO really great reasons to visit NH.  One: lots of time for swimming practice.  And more importantly, two: Auntie Jen and her boyfriend and son E. were going to be visiting at the same time.

The weather really didn't cooperate.  It rained most of the time and the high for the weekend was 67. But Gram and Grumpy were nice enough to really heat up the pool for us so MiniM.E. was able to spend hours in the pool anyway.

She really did just need some practice because after just the first evening of swimming, she was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder all by herself.

And by the end of the weekend she could almost swim from one end of the pool to the other!

LittleL.G. forgot she was only one and a half and didn't want to be left out, so she did a lot of jumping too!

x

She was also really excited to see Auntie Jen and spend some time with E. They had a great time swimming and playing together.

Welcome Baby G.!

We are so excited to welcome our friends' newest addition, Baby G. who arrived almost a month early on July 1st.  We invited ourselves over to see the baby today under the guise of dropping off food for the family.  He was too cute.  The girls were immediately in love with him.  So excited to meet you, Baby G.!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Last year we were in NYC for the 4th of July, which felt a little crazy and a little extravagant, but was fun and exciting for sure.  MiniM.E. remembered just how much fun she had (she must have forgotten the fireworks) and repeatedly asked if we could go back again this year.  Sadly for her, the answer was no.  We decided to lay low and have a relaxing long weekend with (almost) no plans since our weekends have been so busy lately.

And it was a nice, low-key, productive weekend.

Friday afternoon we started our long weekend downtown for a carousel ride and some ice cream.

Then we did a lot of house and yardwork Saturday and Sunday so we could guiltlessly enjoy an evening at Brown's Beach.  The fireworks over Saratoga Lake were Sunday (as MiniM.E. would say, 4th of July Eve), which worked well for us because I knew the girls would be a wreck after staying up late and Tuesday we have swimming so we needed a recovery day.

Brown's Beach was the PERFECT fireworks watching location. The girls waded and played in the sand while we waited for it to get dark.

We had a beautiful view while the sun set over the lake.

And then it was almost time for the fireworks!

4th of July Eve fireworks will definitely be a new tradition for us!

As expected, today was a much needed recovery day as both girls were exhausted! We just laid low at home, did some swimming and took a nice walk. MiniM.E. stayed up til dusk so we could light off some little fireworks in the backyard.

Happy Fourth of July!

Week 1 of Swimming Lessons

Monday MiniM.E. started three weeks of swim lessons. It was a bit ambitious of us to sign up for swimming lessons 25 minutes away every day for three weeks, but MiniM.E. is anxious to learn to swim and I would feel much more comfortable with her in the water if she could swim too!

She made a lot of progress at Gram and Grumpy's pool a few weeks ago, but in just the five days of lessons so far she's gotten even better!

The best part of each lesson is jumping off the diving board into the diving well at the end of class.

We chose the lessons down in Clifton Park because we heard they were the best but also because there is a kiddie pool for LittleL.G. to play in while MiniM.E. is in lessons.  The first few days we had to be near MiniM.E. as she takes a while to get used to new things.  Yesterday LittleL.G. just wanted to sleep... 

So today was the first day she really enjoyed herself while MiniM.E. was swimming.

Looking forward to another two weeks of lessons and watching my little fish learn to swim!

A Happy First Birthday Party