Just keep swimmin'......

We had a "break through" at the swimming pool last night and it got me thinking how BIG this summer has been for the growth and development of my kids. All summer I have outfitted Alec in enough floating apparatus that you could barely see him (Think of the move "The Christmas Story" when the mom is outfitting her youngest son in his winter gear - yeah, I CAN'T PUT MY ARMS DOWN!!!!) Well, even with all of that on his body, my normally fearless son clung to me all summer making the visits to the swimming pool less than fun for me. Our hotel in Lancaster had a heated outdoor pool, so we swam in it while we were there. I started to pull Alec off of me for a brief time to show him that he could indeed float without holding onto Mommy. The terror in his eyes convinced me that it would be another year of holding him in the water. So, yesterday, we decided that one last visit to the public swimming pool was in order after naptime. I prepared myself for holding Alec in the water for three hours. After we were in the pool, I tried again to peel my son off of me. I did this twice and then........Alec swam away from me! The rest of the swimtime Alec swam independently around the pool, face beaming with pride! My toddler boy surprises me everyday.
And my soon-to-be kindergartner.......this is the outfit she wanted to wear to Dutch Wonderland. Notice the shoes in her hands? Those are her school shoes. She tries them on once a day because she can't wait to wear them to kindergarten.
Evan has continually tested his boundaries this summer, which has frustrated both of us. But if you pretend not to look, his tender heart shows through. In the above picture, he was picking up food from the ground and feeding the baby chicks with it.

Well, we're off tomorrow for a week to Maryland to stay with our precious family friends. Our last summer hurrah! So I'm going to be silent for a week......have a great one!