Summer Time! "Pool Version"

Now, does this look like she is afraid of the water? No? Well, maybe we can just give her swim lessons ourselves?! Haaa! She does love the pool, and we are VERY lucky that Mike's employer has this as an employee "perk" -- because it is a great free activity for us to do this summer. We probably go at least once or twice a week. Here's just a little clip of her jumping in the pool & swimming. This time she has her suit-floaties on (blown 1/2 way up - someone told me to slowly decrease the air in them to help them learn to swim on their own. It's worked great -she actually took a few strokes this week w/out any floaties at all!!)

Summer Time! "Sweet Version"

It's BLACK RASPBERRY month!!!! YUM!!! Our family never misses berry picking season. We've already got our strawberries & made jam. Now it's time for black-raspberries. I'm making more jam -- and we ran out that night & got vanilla ice-cream to have w/ our fresh picked berries. Y-U-M-O!!

Our friend Mira ready to pick berries. I'm not sure she'll get too many in her carton with it on top of her head...but it's a cute thought.

YUM! "T-man" was a big help...I think his cartons were the most full of everyone's.

Emerson enjoyed eating them as much as picking them.

How beautiful are those berries.

Our girls enjoying (and showing us) their sweet berries.

We had such a GREAT time w/ the "Gaggle" clan. I can't wait until Blackberries are ready!!

Summer Time! "Gown-Up-Version"

Happy 8th Grade Graduation To My Niece Stephanie!

Wow, I remember when she was just a little thing running around our house in the back yard with her cute little smile & sweet little giggle.

I swear it was just a couple years ago when she used to spend the night with us sleeping in her bed w/ pillows piled all around her to make sure she didn't fall !

We're proud of you Steph & hope that High School is the best time of your life!!

Summer Time! "We Tried Version"

What do you see in the picture above? A sweet little girl w/ an adorable bathing suit & sweet smile all ready for her very 1st swim lesson ever???

NOOOOOO!! It's a girl 3 seconds before the most traumatic version of a swim lesson I've ever seen. Not to mention the shortest swim lesson I've ever seen. Is it a swim lesson when it only lasts 1.5 seconds? I doubt it.

We got to the pool - after talking for days about what a fun time she was going to have. We talked about what we thought her swim teacher was going to wear. We talked about how many boys & girls might be in her class. We talked about how she was going to show everyone how she could blow bubbles, dunk her head under & even jump off the edge in the deep end.

The teacher came out & asked the kids to get in the pool & she stood at the edge & never got any further (on her own anyway). We put her in & she SCREAMED and jumped out, Mike walked her in & she lost her mind. She would not get within 3 feet of the swim teacher. The teacher went on to teach her class while we begged, plotted & bartered with Anne Marie until 20 minutes of the lesson had passed, so we decided to "pack-it-up"!

Well, all I have to say is, this is mostly our fault. She has never been to a sitter (other than a couple times w/ Mikes parents), still cries sometimes when we take her to her Sunday School class, and has a really hard time speaking to adults unless she knows them really well! We should have known to ask to meet the swim teacher 1st. I think that Pre-School might be a VERY good thing for her this fall!! And then we can try swim lessons again next year!!

She sure was cute while waiting for her lesson .. just not so much after. ha!

Summer Time! "Noisy Version"

Ever since we got back from the beach it's been "go-go-go". I've not taken much time to post here. I also have been REALLY bad about forgetting to take my camera places. But I do have a back-log of pictures that I need to share...so I'll be doing a "summer-time" group of post over the next week.

When we got back from the beach Mike's parents invited us over to have dinner, and visit since they had not seen Anne Marie in almost 2 weeks. Well, they had a new toy at their house. All I will say is....... "Thank goodness it's at their house & not ours!!!!!!!!!" She LOVED it! These could be under the title of "Wordless Wednesday" (if it was Wednesday) because I'm sure you can hear the music in your head w/out any words or sound!!

Beach Day #10 & We're Home!!

We're finally home. We didn't end up getting home until 2:00am Sunday night.

We ended up spending most of the day Sunday at the beach. I decided that I was going to leave the camera at the beach house Sunday. I just decided to soak in the sun, fun, and time with my friends and family. There were a few times that I said to Robin "Oh, I wish I had my camera", but really we all enjoyed the day, and I wasn't having to run after everyone taking pictures.


We did end up "dressing up" before sunset and getting back out on the beach for family pictures. And the annual white-dress pictures of Anne Marie. (These are just a few samples .. there are SOOOO many!!)

I'm glad to be home, but miss the beach at the same time. What a wonderful vacation it was!!!! We love our friends for inviting us -- and hope that they have a safe trip home as well!!