Quilt envy?

You should because look at the ridiculously adorable quilt Ella (Grant's mom) made (yes, I said 'made') for Ryan for her 4th birthday.  Mind you, we have a number of other amazing quilts from the lady, but this one took the cake with her very own name on it!  And it was made partly from one of my favorite lines - Vintage Modern....
Without further adieu:
Even the Barbies know good taste when they see it...
Amazeballs right? Thanks again Ella!

Scenes from a pool.....a baby pool

The ladies wanted to play in their spare-no-expense backyard pool yesterday.  Ryan was anxious to show anyone who asked her new underwater skills...
Dad decided to take a dip as well:
Ryan would like to thank you all for the kind words and encouragement in her quest to swim! You all are too nice!

Houston...we have water!

So we were four days into swim camp and Ms. Ryan was wanting nothing to do with going under water.  She would blow bubbles and 'bob' up and down....as long as you count the 'down' portion to be her neck, and then apparently she would stop.  I was getting a little anxious that the nice sum of cash we forked over for a two-week swim class was quickly turning into a two-week wading in two feet of water class.  Last night, Grant was out of town so my folks had us over for dinner...afterwards I told Ryan she and I were going to have our own special 'class' up at a local pool.   Off we went (she looks psyched, eh?):
I'm not going to lie, the first 30 minutes of practice were not fun. Lots of tears and hesitation. Countered with lots of hugs, deep breaths, encouragement and a bag of chips. I would hold onto her, she stopped crying for a moment while we counted to three and went under together. It wasn't pretty but we were making headway. We took a break for some chips and switched pools. In the next pool, my goal was to get her to hold hands with me, but go under on her own. That took some coaxing and promise of a soda. After a few tries, she had worked up the courage (or thirst) to give it a try. The hormonal pregnant part of me was near tears, so proud of her for starting to overcome her fear. Off we went for a soda. Sprite of course....we weren't going hardcore here. We had a nice little chat in the snack shack and something there flipped the switch because all of the sudden she was ready to head back in and practice more. From there on out it was cake. We played ring-around-the-rosie, simon says, any game in which going underwater could be part of the fun. She was the ringleader and oh so happy for herself. We played for another hour. I had to beg her to leave.
Meanwhile, back at Grandma and Grandpa's the Reesers was in heaven...
When we got back to my parents, Ryan went into the garage, found a fake flower, walked over and handed it to me saying "thank you mama for teaching me"....Seriously? Seriously? I'm still recomposing myself from that one - the ultimate in parenting moments. And as I tucked her into bed last night she gave me a big hug and said 'I can't wait for swim camp tomorrow'.  And that was the real test....would she remember what she learned and not revert back to being afraid.  I could tell as she rounded the corner that she had done it.  Such a smile across her face and so proud of herself as her teacher told me she was a different person...underwater all morning and attempting to swim - face down in the water.  Of course about .4 seconds after she got in the car she recalled the ultimate of bribes...a chocolate milkshake.  I had been promising it all week.  So off we went to grab one and celebrate:
And she gladly shared with her sister, even though "Reesey, you didn't go underwater but I will share a little anyway":
You can bet your milkshake we will be at the pool this weekend! Have a good one!

Swim camp

Day 1 was a success!

I should back up and mention that Mrs. Ackermann's Swim Camp has been around forever.  As in, both my sister and I learned to swim there.  So pretty fun that I got to drop off my daughter yesterday.  This camp is old school (the kids can't even wear shoes, you drop them off barefoot - or 'bear-walking' as Ryan calls it) but oh-so-organized.....the camp is literally the family's house with four pools on the side yard.  You pull up on a residential street, the adorable camp helpers wait on the curb and they open the car door and help your child out of his/her seat for you.  It's slightly like 'no soup for you' as you need to keep it moving....no loitering.  I was a total rebel snapping away the few photos I did manage to nab.

Leave it to my father, master of keeping old photos, to pony up these babies:

I believe this was my sister's last day of camp in which you can actually bring family to show off your new skills. My sister is on the left, yours truly (in the questionable attire) on the right.
This would be me displaying my mad jungle gym talents:

And this would be me, apparently smug and happy that my sister appears to be less than enthused in the water.
Enough of the history lesson (which, PS, I am going to assume the reason we are lacking actual pictures of me on my first day would be because it is hard to document when the camp staff is peeling your screaming four year old off the car steering wheel...apparently I wasn't much of a fan...but I did learn to swim)....moving on, the real reason we are here, Ms. Ryan. All excited to go:
I was waiting for her to clam up and be a little hesitant to go, but the lady was a champ...She took her bag and lunch, turned to me and said 'thank you mom', gave me a hug and took off without a second glance. Thank god at least Reese was freaking out in the backseat thinking I was going to leave her stranded in a car....somebody loves me:)

Break my heart at how poised and sweet she was:
This is when the 16 year old staffer probably wanted to issue me a citation (and when Reese really lost it) as I ran around the corner to nab a pic of her heading down the infamous driveway entrance. She was oh so meticilous picking out her very own basket for all her belongings.
When I picked her up five hours later, she was exhausted but happy.
Here is her recap:
I didn't go underwater because the pool wasn't deep enough.
We got our hair wet.
I blew bubbles.
Hey mom! I learned to swim on my back.
There are two bathrooms. One with a picture of girls. One with boys. We change in there.
I sat on a bench for lunch.
I picked a white basket.
I want quesadillas tomorrow.
No diving.

We'll see how day 2 goes....

Happy Monday!

Back to the daily grind.....
Please ignore the dying herbs....Reese has been trying dilegently to keep them alive but with the crazy heat and water restrictions, she is having a hard time (I think you can read the look of disappointment on her face).  Our basil survived though.  Apparently Reese's shirt and shorts fell victim as well.

Also....guess what today is?
Day 1 of swim camp for Ryan. I know you are all on pins and needles so I will be back with an update.

Back to the lake...

For the second half of Ryan's 'birthday weekend', the lady wanted to head down to the lake for a little swimming and relaxation.  And seeing how we had limited time to spare, we crammed in a fun lake trip in a little over 24 hours.  Yes, we drove 3 hours (each way) just to stay one night but if you do nothing but swim and snack, it's well worth the car ride - and, amazingly, didn't feel rushed.

The second we walked through the doors of Grandma and Grandpa's condo, the ladies were stripping off their clothes asking to swim.
Waving to the helicopters overhead...
For what we thought might be a busy, holiday mess....the pool was almost empty most of the time.
Gotta love the freedom that water wings bring...the Reesers was cruising the deep end.
Watching for 'fish and boats'
Topless with a sunhat and iPad....such is the life of a 2 year old.
Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for handing over the keys and such a favorable 'holiday rate'!

The big 0-4.

We celebrated the little lady this past weekend with a super small gathering, including one of our favorite long-distance travelers, Ella.  And thanks to the 108 degree temperatures and our limited indoor entertaining space, it was a darn good thing we kept it super small and at the request of the birthday girl, a pool party.  And by 'pool', I mean 'plastic Wal-Mart device which holds water'.
Sprinkler fun (before we learned of the request from the city not to water your yards, oops)...

With the crazy heat, this was the best spot of the party:
Discussing the festivities:
The quietest they were all night...cake time
Say what Amelia? There's more cake inside?
Nothing says '4 year old birthday party' like a princess dress, heels and a pinata...
Reeser's turn!
Anxiously awaiting the massacre of the pinata...
Nolan delivered.
Thanks to all for braving the heat, especially Ella for spending the weekend with us!