We have been having a busy, but fun, summer. Here's some of what we've been up to lately:
One of our friends told us about a lady who teaches private swim lessons in her backyard pool for a very reasonable price. I was so excited for Cooper to be able to advance the swimming skills he'd learned at our town recreation center swim lessons. Since he hasn't played sports or anything yet, I haven't had the chance to see him really excel at anything. This was a first for Nathan and I, and Coop! He is quite the little fish, a natural swimmer, who loves the water. He took right to the lessons and this was the result in just 5 days of 45-minute lessons. (See video below). If it doesn't work, here is the link Cooper Learns to Swim.
He learned the arms and legs for free-style, breast stroke (with pop-ups for breaths), back stroke, back float, front float, how to swim down to bottom of the pool to retrieve items, and jumping/diving from side. He really enjoyed it, and I look forward to taking him back to Ms. Doris again next year.
Yesterday I dropped everything in the morning, put off all the things on my to-do list, and took the boys to the park because it felt a little cooler than usual, great park weather. A few minutes after we got there, the sun came out, and it got HOT in addition to being already crazy humid. We'd gone to this park twice this year, with the intention of playing on the splash pad, but it was turned off both times. This time I thought it would still not be open, but I was wrong. Coop was a good sport, and played on the playground for awhile (his favorite thing lately is the big fire pole that is so high it scares me to watch him do it, even though he totally can). After a bit he was unbearably hot, and asked whether we could go play in the water to cool off. I was hot too, and knew after running and playing he must be miserable. I looked at the inviting water, and said, "Yes. If we still have that spare towel in the trunk of the car, and sunscreen in the diaper bag, you can play in the water." His response made my day: "Really?! Wow, THANKS MOM!!" (with a big grin and a little skip-hop all the way to the car). Thank goodness I keep that ratty old towel in the car for wiping off wet slides at the park when it has rained, and keep sunscreen in the diaper bag. I stripped him down to his shorts, and let him play in the water for over an hour. I love the joy on his face in these pictures.
Another day we took advantage of the inexpensive in-season zucchini at the farmers stand, and made zucchini bread. We took one loaf to our neighbors, Coop's friend Braden, since they've done so many nice things for us lately. Coop and I had a great time baking together on that hot afternoon while Hudson took a nap.
We often go to the pool/ water park with friends who have memberships there as well. Last Saturday we invited our neighbors to go as our guests. Cooper and Braden had a great time swimming together (since they both took swim lessons from Ms. Doris, and have the same swimming skills). Braden wouldn't smile for the picture, but they had a really great time together. (Nate, Hudson and I were there too, along with Braden's mom, Tammy.)
With all the rain this summer, there's been lots of lawn mowing going on in our yard, much to Nathan's lament. Cooper loves when Daddy mows the lawn. He is sure to get out his own mower and help.
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