Swim Lesson

Well, we had another successful session of swim. Even though I only put my girls in one session a year, Kali was able to pass her level and even dove off the diving board which wasn't a requirement (only jumping off feet first and swimming to the side). Swimming the full length of the pool was quite a challenge for her, but her swim teacher was the best she's ever had and helped her succeed.

Sadie wasn't able to pass her class, but she really enjoyed being in the water and wasn't afraid to try anything. She just needs a little more practice.

Swim

The girls just finished their swim lessons for the summer. Kali started out a little rusty but was very good at listening and following her teacher's instructions. He mainly focused on their side breathing with the freestyle. They also worked on their backstroke and then on the last day, the got to jump off the diving board and dive over their teacher's arm from the side of the pool. That really got Kali excited. Maybe we need to focus her efforts on diving. She'd probably be very good at it.

Sadie was like a fish in water until her teacher would ask her to put her head in. She would always do what her teacher asked but was obviously not doing it correctly. I think she was swallowing a lot of water because she forgets to blow her bubbles like she's supposed to. Then on the last day, Sadie asked me to put her goggles on. Her teacher said that it made all the difference. Now we know the key to her success and will definitely be using her goggles in the future.

Ashlyn was so disappointed on the first day of swim when she found out that Kali and Sadie would be getting in the water and she wouldn't, but that quickly wore off. She found plenty of other ways to entertain herself, including playing in the water. Thankfully she didn't find this spot until the last day. I had my hands full just trying to keep her from falling in.

Fairview

Our family decided to have a quick weekend getaway this weekend. We went to Fairview and stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's Brown's place. Thanks to Gary and Lisa, Josh and the girls got to enjoy some four wheeling.

Brady and Jordan came too and thanks to Brady, Emma got to join in the fun.

The resort has a pool and the girls got to enjoy their first swim for the summer. For some reason, my kids are fearless in the water. There's a big slide there and Sadie went running up the steps to go down by herself. The only problem is that it ends in the deep end of the pool and Sadie can't swim yet. Thankfully Jordan and I spotted her and Jordan got in the water to catch her at the bottom. The girls were jumping off the diving board and everything. I can tell they're a little rusty on the skills they learned in swim. Time for another round of lessons. Ashlyn couldn't enter the pool since she's not completely potty trained, but they had a little plastic pool that she got to play in and that was just as good to her.

Swim Lessons

Swim lessons have begun and the girls were so excited they could hardly stand it. This is Sadie's first time. I was a little nervous for her because she won't put her head under the water or jump in from the side of the pool with us, and I knew she'd be required to do that in her class. But she did everything her teacher asked her to and was smiling the entire time. She even complained that the lesson was too short even though it was 40 minutes long.

Kali is in Level 2 now and still swims like a fish. Thankfully, I feel like this class will finally teach her something. Her teacher seems awesome.

St. George

Our annual trip to St. George was a blast as usual. As a matter of fact, I think it was my favorite family vacation ever. Everything just turned out perfect. I didn't seem to be as stressed or ornery as I usually am on these trips. It probably helps that I'm not pregnant, nursing or potty training a child. We surprised the girls with the trip the morning of. They were pretty excited. Here are just a few of the fun things we did.

We got a delicious free Dominoes pizza (thanks to the Dixie Direct card) and had a picnic at a park. This was Ashlyn's first experience with a Capri Sun and she loves them.

We played on the inflatable slides at Jumpin' Jacks, which is a great workout if you haven't ever tried it. I was amazed at how much Sadie liked it since she always seems to be the one to saunter around rather then do something that takes a lot of energy. But she just kept plugging away at the obstacle courses and climbing those steps to get to the tops of the slides.

Ashlyn was scared to death of the inflatables, but was as happy as could be if she were allowed to walk around on the ground and climb the seats to the car video games. 

We swam at the Condo's indoor pool because it was in the 60's for the first two days.

Then we went on a hike which was probably our favorite part of the whole trip. We picked the best day because it was overcast most of the time and in the 70's. The hike was easy for the girls and the red rock with the green trees and shrubs and the blue sky and white clouds was breathtaking. 

It was only about 20 minutes from our Condo so we packed a lunch and spent a couple of hours enjoying the hike at a kids pace while looking for lizards and pointing out all the pretty flowers we could see.

There was a small waterfall.

And we even got to cross the stream at one point. (Thanks Jen for the suggestion to go to Leeds.)

We got to do bumper boats at Fiesta Fun.

Then we visited Brigham Young's winter home. The girls did such a good job listening during the tour and really seemed to like it. They learned where St. George got it's name from which was a question they had asked us on the way down that I didn't know the answer to. Sadie's favorite part was that the tour guide gave them some almonds from the almond tree on the property. Ashlyn struggled, but it was worth the visit. It's fun to see the girls showing some interest in this kind of thing.

We did more swimming. This time in the outdoor pool. Kali is still just as much of a fish as she always has been. She does, unfortunately, drink a lot of water and ends up with a tummy ache afterward.

Sadie played with her "keyboard" much of the time, which is made from the tiling on the side of the pool, or she pretended to be a dolphin and had me throw her a toy while she fetched it and brought it back.

Thankfully swim time was usually during Ashlyn's nap time because she didn't care much for the water. I could get her to stop from crying for a little bit if I would toss her duck and take her with me to go get it. But she still didn't really like the water.

Then came bowling. The girls are hilarious to watch.

Not too happy with her bowl right here, but for the most part, she was jumping up and down and having a blast.

Kali got a few pointers from Dad, which seemed to improve her bowling technique a little. Thankfully, because I was a little nervous when she'd practically throw the ball down the lane.

She would have won me by a landslide had I not bowled a spare and a strike on my last turn.

A few other fun things that we enjoyed while on our trip and didn't get pictures of were: early morning jogging, a beautiful double rainbow, movies, wii games, eating at our favorite restaurants, and outlet shopping. Such a wonderful vacation!!!