Swimming Lessons 2010

Ready to get in the pool - 1st day of swimming lessons.
July 19 - 30

The boys started out in the same class - "Fond of Water"

But Gordon was quickly promoted to the "Dolphin" class. He was ready to do more this year. ☺

Grayson loved his class. Here they are doing one of their warm-ups - "Ring Around the Rosie."

Rarely did I not see this smile on his face.

Getting ready to jump in.

Doing the "Starfish float"

Gordon also loved lessons.

One of the many things Grayson enjoyed most - jumping in from the side of the pool.

Whoo-hoo!

Gordon would practice his underwater swimming skills while his teacher worked individually with the other three kids in his class. He didn't want to waste any pool time just hanging on to the side.

Little Starfish

Gordon's starfish/back float

Ready for another day of lessons!

Great job, boys! We're so proud of our little swimmers.

Summer Reading...Prizes!

One of our favorite activities is to go to the library and check out fresh new books every week.

During summer, the library offers a summer reading incentive program for kids of all ages.

The boys have earned tickets to a rodeo, a baseball game, a coupon for a new book, among 0ther things.

But probably their favorite prize this year has been...

...vouchers for a free goldfish each, from Zamzow's!

So on July 17th, we stopped by Zamzow's to pick up the boys' new pets, and buy some gravel, a new air pump tube, and some new aquarium decor.

The fish were already named by the time we'd left the parking lot. Gordon named his fish "Goldy" and Grayson came up with "Drivey Car" for his new friend. (I'm guessing it's because at the time we were driving in the car).

Gary got the aquarium all set up.

And the boys took turns holding the new goldfish.

This was an extra special day!

Gordon got to introduce the fish to their new home.

They like it!

The boys pulled up their little chairs and enjoyed watching their goldfish swim around the tank.

What an awesome reward for reading!

Thank you, Library!!

Special Summer Project ~ Cherry Cobbler

Our new back yard has many treasures - one of which is this lovely cherry tree.

After some encouragement and coaching from Grandma Myra, the boys and I decided to pursue something we'd never done before ~ cherry cobbler - FROM SCRATCH.
Gordon and I picked most of the cherries.

Grayson helped push branches with his stick, and was also a great help with pitting and tasting the cherries.

These are very organic cherries, so we had to discriminate the good ones from the mushy or "wormy" ones.

Gordy - such a willing and dedicated helper.

It took us all morning to pick the recommended five cups of cherries. The pitting and cleaning took quite awhile too. (My hands were too sticky during this process to snap any photos).

Once we had our cherry crop picked, pitted, and cleaned - we followed a recipe in our good ol' Betty Crocker cookbook, and it all came together. It didn't take long before the house was filled with the delicious aroma of fresh-baked cobbler. We managed to wait until after Daddy was home and we'd eaten dinner to taste our treat...and we were not disappointed.

It really was scrumptious!

We topped it off with some cherry vanilla ice cream.

Yum! Not sure how often this will happen, considering the time and mess factors, but on this particular summer day, it was the perfect endeavor. Very rewarding.

Mr. Independent

Grayson has hit his independent stage, where he wants to do everything all by himself.

Picking out his clothes and dressing himself - inside out AND backwards.
He is so very proud.

I love 3-year olds!

He is such a little charmer.

The Northwest Motorfest

Gary scored some tickets to the Northwest Autofest on Saturday, July 10th.
Expo Idaho was alive with souped up vintage cars and trucks, 50's and 60's music piping through the sound system, and so much to see and do for two little boys!

Here they are watching a 100-foot drag race track, where a variety of cars of varying ages revved their engines, squealed their tires, and took off loudly, racing down the track.

It was a sight to see!

There were reportedly over 1,000 cool, old cars and trucks - hot rods, muscle cars, rat rods, antique vehicles, etc... - but this one was among our favorites. If I recall correctly, it's a 1957 Ford Woody with matching camping trailer.

They even had off-road 4x4 rock crawlers, exhibiting their fascinating skills.
(Gordy took this photo).

Unfortunately I didn't snap pictures of this part of the day, but each of the boys got a free model car to put together (with Daddy's help). They have them at home to remind them of their super fun day at the Motorfest. I'm sure this is only the beginning of the "guy stuff" I'll be doing in the years to come.... ☺ But to be honest, I really enjoyed this outing too.