Swim lessons!

This summer has been a whirl wind of activity including swimming lessons.  Anna did four weeks with her class and is doing another four weeks in the evenings.  We are are at the half way point of the evening swim lessons and it is great to see the progress!  Anna is moving up to the next level.  Olivier is ready to as well (depends on if there is space) and Mason is making huge strides! 

Here is a group shot enjoying some shade.  It is still very bright with a lot of reflection off the pool. 

 

 Olivier swimming with Dad.

 Olivier practicing his back floats.

 And more swimming, and in typical Olivier fashion he has his tongue hanging out!  Silly boy!

 Mason is usually slow to warm up.  He likes doing "monkey crawls" along the wall of the pool.

 Anna loves being in the pool.  During her first four weeks of lessons she was very hesitant to put her face in the water.  We broke down and got her some goggles.  It seems to have helped her get more comfortable with putting her face in the water and swimming more. 

 Anna is in a class with a teacher and no parent.  She has done really well!

 I think she is suppose to have her face in the water at this point.  Getting closer!

 Olivier swimming with Dad.  He is a true water bug!

 Anna swimming to the wall.  Doing a great job kicking and pointing with her hands. 

 The boys enjoying the shallow water where they can walk. 

 Olivier showing off how he loves to go under water!

 Listening to the boys teacher on what skill to work on next. 

 Anna working on her back float.

 Anna enjoying some splashing in the shallow water. 

 

We have two more weeks to go.  It has made for long days and mixed up schedules but we see how much the kids like it and how much they have improved and it is all worth it! 

Happy 1st Birthday Rhys!

It is hard to believe Rhys is 1!  Where has the year gone!  Although things were very busy with moving the day before, we were happy to break away and enjoy the party!  The kids had Grandpa working hard pulling the wagon. 

 Natalie and Mason were enjoying a ride at this point with Olivier "helping" Grandpa pull. 

 

 Now Mason is joined by Liam (Natalie and Rhy's cousin) and Natalie was "helping" Grandpa. 

Rhys really enjoyed her cake, much like her sister.  Yum!  Who doesn't like cake? 

 Anna, Mason, Olivier, Natalie and Liam sure love cake too! 

Happy Birthday Rhys!  We love you!

Swim lessons

We have started swim lessons with Mason and Olivier for the next four weeks.  Anna continues her lessons (she has taken four weeks already and will take four more).  The first day went very well, Anna was happy that she now has goggles, Olivier is ready and willing to do anything, and Mason is enjoying kicking his legs.  The next four weeks will be beyond busy but we would not pass up on this time for them to learn the basics of being in a pool.  

What having two 2 year olds is like!

Things are very "interesting" in our house!  At school when they take a spill they fill out an injury report so we know what happened and we can keep track of the many "boo-boo's" the boys get.  Granted, the majority of them are for Olivier, Mason does get his fair share.  

This week has been no exception.  On Tuesday Olivier decided to jump from one of the climbing structures at school.  As he landed, he bit his tongue.  It has healed surprisingly fast, this is what it looked like the next day.  I think he wanted to feel what it's like to pierce his tongue.  Ouch!  

 

On Wednesday, the boys came home with rubber bands in their hair.  Not sure what they were doing with rubber bands at school but all the kids in the class (which is mainly boys) had varying amounts of rubber bands in their hair.  

 

 Olivier choose just one, Mason choose five. 

 They also had fun on Wednesday wearing Matt's socks around the house.  With the laminate floors and their tendency to fall anyways, this makes me nervous.  They have both taken some big "spills" doing this so at least now they know to walk very slowly while doing it! 

 Mason was very proud and told me that he was ready to play soccer now. 

 And today, I think Olivier wanted to see what it was like being a unicorn.  He took a spill at school and ended up with a huge bump (and small scratch) on his forehead.  He was rather proud of his bump. 

 Mason wanted me to take his picture too.  Much more serious look on his face.  He has some nasty bruises on his left leg and right arm.  Thankfully he has gone a couple days without a major injury. 

You can tell they are surrounded by books.  One of their favorite things to do is read, much safer! 

Anna's silly faces

While trying to get the kids to sing, I took a few photos and managed to get one of Anna's very silly faces.  I think she may have been looking for some attention, what do you think?

Anna's ladybug

The kids are getting into smaller and smaller toys.  One good example of that is the tiny lady bug that Anna found (it is about the size of a nickle).  Trying to make sure it doesn't end up in one of her baby cousin's mouth is going to be tricky for us! 

Camera time! (and quick update)

The kids love to play with their cameras.  Recently Mason got a toy camera from the dentist and this really spiked their interest in taking pictures and why we take pictures.  I took a couple of video clips with them talking about their cameras.  One interesting thing to note is how Mason pronounces camera.  Not sure what kind of accent that is! 

Speaking of accents, Olivier has been using a bit of a southern accent lately.  Not sure where he picked it up but it is very cute! 

Anna has started swim lessons at school (I know, horrible of me not to go and take pictures but probably better because she is participating a lot more than she would if I was there).  She really likes it and says she is learning to float on her back, blow bubbles, do monkey crawls, and a few other things.  She has another six weeks of lessons this summer which is a good use for all of her energy!

The kids have been growing like weeds!  Mason is about 37 and a half inches tall.  For comparison, that is how tall Anna was at her 3 year old checkup and he is 2 and a half.  He weights about a pound less than she does now (three more than she did at this height!).  And he shows no signs of stopping!  Olivier is on the slow and steady track but has reached a big milestone, he is now 36 inches tall.  Anna is now tall enough to reach all of our light switches (the are much higher than the standard height) which has been nice, now if she would just remember to turn them off too!