Friday, August 6, 2010

Here Fishy Fishy


We have had a lot of it this summer. Between Dad and Mickey's beach pool, Cam and Jenny's pool and a ward friends pool... we haven't had a problem with getting our fill in.

Mr. Benjamin. He has become a seasoned "beach pool bum." Even though he is always covered in sunscreen, he still has gotten a little tan. You can tell by looking between his little chubby crease lines around his ankles!
(Benji waiting to enjoy a day at the pool)

He is the most spoiled baby, being held by everyone. He eats it up!
(my beautiful cousin Misty holding him at Stella's Birthday pool party)
Too bad I didn't get a good picture of Mickey holding Ben. She was such a help chilling out with him in the shade.
(you can see Mickey and Ben in the background. Thats our set up at the beach pool, very close to when we really do go to the beach, we had our own umbrella and of course the ice chest with food)
When it got too hot Ben really enjoyed a dip in the pool. His favorite was when he was getting tired and I would sway him in the water on his side. He would just close his eyes and coo, must have reminded him of the womb. Most of the time he was a good baby, until he wasn't. And then it was time to go home.
(tired Ben, so sad and ready to go home)
Mikey, Mike. These pictures do a good job of summing up what Mike thinks about swimming.
("cheese")

(I can just hear it now, "I'm goin' to shoot you mom!" give him something that shoots water and he is a happy camper)
He loves the water (has since he was a baby). This was the first year he really got to use his floaties. He took to them no problem. He would kick himself around and then just float, hanging out by himself. Then he would get bored and yell to someone to help him. In other words, he was too dang lazy to kick his legs and wanted someone to pull him to the shallow end!
(being lazy eating his cupcake and drinking some soda at Stella's party)
Mike has always been good with entertaining himself. He will go off and have fun. One of his favorite spots was the water spitting frog. The last few times we went to the beach pool he figured out how to stand straddling the water at the frogs mouth, looking like he was peeing (such a boy).
(just a cute picture of my Mikey boy, ruined by a nice booger)

Miss Abigail. She pretty much learned how to swim this year. Somehow we still haven't gotten her in swim lessons. But its okay seeing that with a little help from Grandpa Webb and watching Wyatt, she decided she didn't need them to start learning. I think the goggles were the key. Seeing under the water is so cool that it makes holding your breath easy to do.
She got really good at playing mermaid and swimming under the water. And it always helps to have a pink swimsuit, especially one with a tutu!
Besides keeping my eye on her and responding to the frequent "Mom... watch me!" I don't get to see too much of her at the pool. She enjoys playing with her cousins so much. When we go swimming without a cousin she gets kind of bored with mom.
(playing in the sand, using that imagination)
The adults... we enjoyed talking with one another trying to stay cool and watch all the kids.
(here is a typical picture of us at the pool, far left is Jenny and Stella, Abigail, Me, Dad, Mickey and Luke -- Christine was probably chasing after Levi when this was taken)
I would have to say that every ones favorite thing was when Grandpa was able to come swim, either right before or after a flight. The kids all love to swim with Grandpa, and I always enjoy talking with my dad. I have to send out a thank you to Dad and Mickey for letting us enjoy the beach pool again this summer. Without a doubt we had fun going and making summer swimming memories!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

A Mystery No Longer

Remember my post awhile ago about the mystery tree in my back yard? We figured it out today. Would you guess what it is by seeing a picture of the growing fruit like this one?...
I was still stumped. Then I found one ripe on the ground. We cut it open and it looked like this...
I was still stumped. How about you? Would you guess that it is a GUAVA? Yep, thats what our mystery tree is. Abbey and I rather enjoyed eating our first guava (after I looked up what the heck the fruit was and if it was edible). Turns out you can eat the whole thing, skin and all. It was really good. Kind of a cross between a strawberry and apple. It was soft and juicy. I was impressed and Abbey was too, seeing that she ate her whole half with out hardly any hesitation.
If you want to try a Guava, let me know. I will pick one for you when they get more ripe. Looks like we will have a lot of them this year. Who knew?