Tressa's First Attempt at Swimming Lessons

I decided to put Tressa in swimming lessons this month for her first time. I was hoping to get her a little more comfortable with the water in time for our vacation next week. I think we accomplished that goal, but she is still pretty timid in the water. Time will tell, but I'm not sure if swimming is her thing. Bless her heart, she tried so hard to be excited about it each day and she always came running to me after lessons as proud as can be, but she looked just miserable out there. She was a really good sport. She listened to her teacher and went through the motions, but I think she's still just a little too fearful. It hit me how far behind the other kids she was when a mom sitting next to me said "Gosh, you just don't realize how much coordination it takes!" when the teacher was working with Tressa on scoops and kicks (I'm sure she meant well). Granted, Tressa was the youngest in her class....but she is naturally a pretty careful and timid child. I don't think I was a very good swimmer either. I took lessons and got through all the levels, but I think it was only because I was so darn competitive....if the other kids could do it so could I. I loved doing tricks off the diving board and meeting friends at the pool, but I can't say I loved or was actually very good at swimming. Jason, on the other hand, is a really good swimmer. He was a life guard as a teenager. So maybe there's still hope for Tressa. I'm just going to keep exposing her to it so that she can at least learn to be safe in the water. We've gone to our pool a couple times since the lessons and she is doing better and better each time. And despite the fact that she's not a very good swimmer, she still really enjoys the water. She's been asking to go to the pool almost every day. I'm really proud of her for not giving up. Here are a few pictures from the last two weeks of lessons.

I'm really trying to like this Mom!


Back float (Tressa called it a starfish...I think this was her favorite part of swimming lessons. She'd always say, "Mom, I hope I get to be the first one to do my starfish today!")


Practicing kicks


Her face says it all....She was supposed to be in the water with the rest of the class holding on to the wall, but I think she just couldn't do it any longer. This was the last day of class. She asked her teacher if she could sit on the side until it was her turn.


I think these might be a little tight! She only agreed to go all the way under the water once...and she insisted on wearing these to do so.


Jumping in...way to go sweetie!


I love my "comfty cozy" princess towel.

Jason's 31!

Here are a few photos from Jason’s birthday on Friday. It has been a long hard year for him and this week was busier than ever with the instructor test prep course he’s been taking. I am so proud of what he’s accomplished and I’m excited for him to start seeing the fruits of his labors in the upcoming year. At the end of the 7 week course he’ll be taking his final flight test to get his instructor certification and he’s already got an instructor job lined up. Then he’ll just instruct and build his hours until he’s able to find a job with the airlines. I admire him so much for having a dream, knowing what he wants, and going for it. Happy Birthday Hon!

Here's Tressa helping Dad unwrap his present from her. She was so excited about her gift that she insisted he open it first...and she helped him open it...and she told him what it was before he could lift the lid! Jason got a good laugh out of it. He made her day by wearing the outfit she got him for dinner that night.


I think it might be time to switch to those little candles with numbers on them!


My little cake eater!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

With all the rain the past several days Corbin has become my little weather man. Here he is watching a storm one evening.



Every time he heard the thunder crack he'd look at us and say "dat!" or "what dat!?" He didn't seem to be frightened by it, just curious.



Although he liked watching the storms and pointing out the rain, he was pretty bummed that we couldn't spend much time outside this week. He kept asking to play T-ball (he calls it B-ball) and I had to tell him that it was too wet. For days he kept pointing out the puddles and saying "rain." Today the ground was finally somewhat dry at our apartment and the weather was nice. The first time we left the house this morning he excitedly exclaimed, "No rain.....B-Ball!!!" It was a pretty busy day, but I couldn't turn him down after he had waited so patiently all week. We made some time for T-ball this afternoon and he was all smiles.

Tutu Tressa

Tressa has been loving her gymnastics class, but her heart is really set on ballet. So, I found an inexpensive ballet class for her to try out this summer. I made the mistake of telling her about it 2 weeks before it actually started. She’s been asking me about it and trying on her ballet clothes almost daily.







Here she is putting on a “ballet conference” for me.

I didn’t get any pictures of her first day of class last week because Corbin was climbing all over me, but she was just glowing! She was grinning ear to ear the entire time and she did such a good job listening to the teacher and trying to do the steps. The teacher was surprised that this was her first lesson because she did so well. I explained that she’s never had a formal lesson, but that she’s been practicing at home. She also loves checking out “Angelina Ballerina” videos and ballet books from the library and she even has a ballet card game (which she asks me to play with her almost every day). Even Corbin is picking up some moves (much to Jason’s dismay)! His favorite one is plié, which he does more like a squat and jump.

Mmmmm...Ice Cream!

Here's Corbin having an ice cream cone "Ah Daddy" (with Daddy) at the mall. He's really going to town with that thing....I'm surprised he gave Daddy a lick!

Beach Bummer

Here's Tressa and Corbin having a blast playing in the sand at the park. These pictures were taken exactly six days before Memorial Day.













Okay. Now here's Tressa and Corbin at the lake on Memorial Day. You would have thought we were trying to drown them with the fuss they were making!



Do you like the 80's aerobics instructor look Tressa is sporting? She insisted on putting her shoes and socks back on because she didn't like the sand sticking to her feet. Corbin wanted his shoes back on too. Neither one wanted much to do with the beach, period. Granted, it rained that morning so the sand was wet and sticking to everything, but none of the other kids seemed to mind...some of them were literally rolling in it! On top of the sticky sand and a sand castle that was kicked into Corbin's lap, it was just about nap time and I don't think either of them was feeling that great to begin with. Corbin was just getting over something - which he so kindly passed on to Tressa. So, I probably shouldn't have even tried to bring them. But it sounded like so much fun and I was sure the kids would enjoy themselves despite the fact that they weren't 100%!

Oh well. It wasn't a total loss. Before the traumatic beach incident we did manage to spend some time with our friends. We barbecued, the girls chatted, the guys played catch, the kids played T-ball & ran around..... and the scenery was beautiful! We were disappointed to have to leave early, but I could see that our little beach bums were not going to buck up and get used to it, so we called it a day.

Here they are 30 seconds into our drive home.




Anyone want to wish us luck on our Disneyland vacation in a few weeks?!