Swimming Fun!

Ella has been doing very well at swimming. She was just promoted to the "Marlin" level for her swimming lessons. As a marlin, she will be swimming the length of the pool doing freestyle and backstroke. She will also start learning how to do breaststroke kicks. She is such a good little swimmer! So far this month we have been to the pool everyday except Sunday. Ella is not only improving with her strokes she is also getting good with some tricks in the water. She can dive to the bottom of 3 ft and get dive sticks, she can do flips (she calls them tummy tucks) underwater, and she can hold her breath for quite some time. Shane and Ella like to sit on the bottom of the pool and see who can hold their breath the longest. She also likes to play "Marco, Polo" but still doesn't get the concept. She closes her eyes during the game even when she is not it. :) Here is some video of Ella doing freestyle the length (60 ft) of our neighborhood pool and then doing backstroke on the way back.

And then she goes back...

Here is some video of Ella playing around and Willow's new favorite game. Willow has never really liked the water all to much. She doesn't like the motion of the water (she doesn't like swinging either). This past week, however, she has gained some confidence in the water and loves to jump off the step and kick to someone and then kick back to the step. I have started taking a step back each time she does it to make it a little bit more challenging for her. She is improving on her floating but still doesn't like it. She is a kicker and kicks water all over the place when she floats, can't seem to break her of that habit yet.

I am so proud of how well both girls are doing at learning how to swim but it pales in comparison in the joy I get out of seeing them enjoy playing in the water and the happiness it brings them. I love that we have found an activity as a family that we can all do together and enjoy with each other. Even Willow who doesn't like the actual swimming loves to go the pool and splash around. Going to the pool together as a family and playing together has been the highlight of our day for this past month.

Two cute girls!

I know that I am their mom but I have to say it, Ella and Willow are two cute girls! Last week when we came home from church, I just had to take their picture because I thought that they looked just too dang cute.

(...and what would a photo shoot be with out Ella doing a little song and dance for the camera?)

Arkansas Trip

This past weekend we went to Arkansas. Shane wanted to do a triathlon up there and it was a good excuse for him to see friends and family. We left Friday afternoon and got in around 2:00 am on Saturday morning. Shane decided to do a 5k run Saturday morning with a friend, Ember. The girls had a fun time watching them.

This is Shane and Ember just after a mile.
Later that day we played at a friend's house. They set up a pool and slide. Ella loved going down the slide. After a few times going down normally that was not enough, so she started going down head first.

Willow on the other hand did not enjoy the slide too much. This was her one and only time down the slide. She spent her time eating 2 popsicles and watched Ella and Parker go down the slide.

Parker is just 2 weeks younger than Willow and he loved going down the slide (just look at that face). It was too funny.

We didn't think that we would be swimming on this trip so we didn't bring bathing suits. Oh well, panties and diapers will do. They all enjoyed the popsicles.

After the slide fun had worn off, Ella and Parker took the water hose to the trampoline. They had so much fun. Willow spent her time digging a hole in the dirt and playing with toys.

Shane, Willow, and me just hanging out outside.

Saturday night we went out with Jared, Erika, Parker, and their baby Connor and then Ember, Cash, and their little girl Lydia for a pasta dinner. Shane needed to carb up before the triathlon.

The triathlon morning was a little crazy but even after some bad directions to the race and Shane forgetting his helmet, he did it.

Shane didn't realize that it was a MOUNTAIN triathlon. He was a little tired afterwards. Overall it was a good trip.

Ella's Dance Recital

Ella had her dance recital last week. She first did her ballet dance to Swan Lake. Ella did an amazing job and the best one (at least I think so). She was so animated that she got the audience into it and they were all laughing along with her performance.

Her second dance was a tap dance to Rags the Dog. This was my favorite of the two. She really got into the dance during the second half of it. It was too funny. Ella really enjoys dancing and I think that it shows in her performance.