At the beginning of June, the kids did a week of swim lessons. Both kids did great and Kaitlyn even swam across the WHOLE pool! I wouldn't say that she loved it, but she DID it, and she was soooooooo proud of herself afterward. And I was too. Now that we have a neighborhood pool within walking distance of our house, I'm hopeful that she will remember what she's learned and keep practicing. Ethan swam across half the pool, but given how fearless he is in the water, I predict he'll be swimming fairly well by next year. When it came time to do the water slide, the teachers were going to slide down with the preschoolers. Ethan marched up to the top of the slide and announced that he wanted to do it by himself. And he did--with no hesitation whatsoever. Of course, it may have helped that he just saw his sister go down by herself. Little brother has to do everything that big sister does :)
I don't remember how this got started, but the kids started pretending that their plastic firefighter hats were really magic hats. Over and over again, they eagerly showed me how they could make objects "magically" appear under their hats. Of course, their slight-of-hand needs some work, but they were so sincere in their efforts that I had to take pictures. If you ask me, that is one adorable little magician in his red fireman's hat, his orange tiger shirt, a red tutu, a Rapunzel braid and a pink/purple necklace.
Apparently jewelry helps you be a better magician--the more the better! What's funny about this story is what happened when Jeff got home. They were SO excited to show Daddy their magic tricks, and Daddy decided to show them some magic of his own. His slight-of-hand was significantly better than theirs and they were in awe that their dad could do "real" magic. Giggles and gasps of amazement filled our house for an entire hour after dinner. I even heard Kaitlyn telling her friend the next day (in complete seriousness and in great detail) how her daddy was a real magician who could do real magic. The innocence and trust of this age is truly precious to behold.
Ethan and I went hiking at Radnor one day while Kaitlyn was at a church event. He's showing off his latest addition to his rock collection.
Last week, we took a trip to Fayetteville to spend a few days with Gran. We decided to explore a couple of local destinations that we hadn't been to before. This was Falls Mill, an historical grist mill with the largest working water wheel in the country. The kids were pretty enthralled, and it was a great opportunity to look at some historical artifacts and talk about what life was like a hundred years ago.
But the best part of the trip was the shallow creek at the base of the falls that was a haven for aquatic life. There were lots of very hungry fish who jumped out of the water when the kids tossed in bread crumbs. The kids discovered "crawdads" for the first time and had a ringside seat watching those creatures forage along the bottom of the creek for food. We even saw two snakes (!!!) in the creek--thankfully from a safe distance. My little nature lovers were in heaven.
Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant and enjoyed yummy burgers and shakes. And then we went to a local horse farm where they let us walk freely through the barns and pet the horses as much as we wanted to. Kaitlyn was over the moon. All in all, a pretty perfect summer day. I'll leave you with this picture of Ethan winking at me. It doesn't get much cuter than that, folks!
