Waterbugs

 Our dear friend Kim agreed to give the kids swimming lessons this summer.  They loved it!  I think they learned the most they ever have in one set of lessons as well.  So awesome.  Rebecca can *finally* swim for real; even if it's only a few feet.  She's thought that she was swimming for the past two years, where in reality she was really just walking across the pool moving her arms with her face in the water.  Serious progress!

 Teresa didn't quite catch on yet, much to my surprise, but this was her first time.  Maybe next year!

Andrew is off like a waterbug.  He needs to build some endurance & work on his form, but I can finally let him just go swim at the pool with his friends & feel comfortable.  Hallelujah!

Thank you so much, Kim!!!

Hail the conquering graduate

 We spent Mother's Day weekend in Hastings with a joyful group of family to celebrate my oldest niece Clare's graduation from high school!  Such a great reason to celebrate & a blessing to have so many of us together.  Here's baby-loving Maria enjoying Lily rocking her shades.

 The boys camped out on the bunkbeds

 crazy zebra-lady

 The kids were SO excited to stay at a hotel.  We spent Saturday evening swimming with cousins.  Actually, Andrew's really the only one who did any swimming.  Rebecca just bopped around a little bit between the hot tub & the "so cold" indoor swimming pool & Teresa spent most of her pool time like this in Maria's arms.

 If you thought swimming was exciting, it was nothing compared to sleeping in a big bed.

 After a continental breakfast, some sweet cards that the big kids made at school, baccalaureate Mass, & sandwiches for lunch, we ventured out to the local park to enjoy the ducks & the playground.  Perfect day!

 Then after a nice ceremony (including our new Bishop!) we headed back to the house for the party.  I was especially fond of the cappuccino punch... oh my goodness it was delicious.

("Aunt Bobby" with Clare & Elizabeth in 1999)

Watching a cute slideshow that they put together, I could remember so much from when Clare was just a baby.  I lived with them a few summers in a row working with Rich out in the cornfield during the day & enjoying time with my sister Melissa & the babies in the evening.  I kind of adopted them as my first kiddos before I ever had kids.  Now she's going to college!  I may have cried about a box-worth of Kleenex... in-between smiling so much that my cheeks hurt.  :)

Love you, Clare Elizabeth! 

You are such an amazing woman & I am blest to be your aunt.

Surfin' Safari

 Well, not surfing exactly, but on our way to swimming lessons this month we've been pumping ourselves up with a little Beach Boys on the way.  It was especially helpful on the two Thursdays that it was SNOWING on our way there versus the other two that were hot & balmy.  Crazy Nebraska! 

 Both kids did great.  Andrew learned how to backstroke & knee dive.

 Rebecca further mastered arm movement & face in the water... though her feet have a tendency to stay on the ground instead of float.  Oh, well.

 She's brave enough to jump off the side & off the diving board, though!

And occasionally kick.  ;)

Busy

 The first week of school was fun, but busy!  To turn our minds back to the "quieter" days of summer, we decided to invite over friends & fill up the pool.  Splasherific.

Auntie Cara came over with the boys & Teresa had a blast with them.  Jonathan kept looking around for Andrew & Rebecca... he just couldn't believe they weren't there!  Cara brought along some fabulous cookies she made as a gift.  Such a sweetheart! 

 Here's Teresa showing off her high heels.  I guess fancy clothes don't automatically make you ladylike.  :P 

 Andrew (& Darren) started up Cub Scouts already, too. 

Here's my Wolf Cub!

***

Between the craziness of starting school, Mom's Group, Birthright, Art Club, Little Flowers, Cub Scouts, my grad class, Bible Study, GodTeens, & general momming/wifing, I might be a little MIA around here for a while.  Please, say a prayer for me!  Know that you are in mine.  :)

Reunion

 Hastings is a pretty common destination for us & always a lot of fun.  But RARELY do we ever go there for anything not related to my sister Melissa's family.  They are so much fun & keep us busy, busy, busy without even trying!  :)  Well, they were out of town a couple of weeks ago when a college friend invited us up for a visit.  We're there so often & yet we never get to see his family.  So, this was the perfect opportunity.

I hadn't been to the Hastings Museum since high school & it was a new experience for everyone else.  Andrew was especially in love with all of the military vehicles & weapons.

 The old cars were fun to look at & imagine our family riding in one!

 They have very cool animal mounts & replicas all over.  These prehistoric swimmers were HUGE.

 We also had our first planetarium experience with the kids.  Rebecca thought it was awesome.  Andrew was moderately interested.  Teresa just kept saying that she wanted to go home!  I had to bait her with snacks from my purse.  :P  They all enjoyed digging & pretending in the discovery room.

 Afterwards we met up with Jeremy & his family at the park.  I really wish we had a free splash park like this here!  The kids had a blast & we all had a nice time chatting.

 We dried off, hopped in the van, & drove across town to a reunion of many old Newman Center friends with their families.  Most were alumni by the time I got there, but I still knew almost everyone.  What a great group of people.  It was amazing how many kids were running around there!  Certainly a different kind of party than we used to have!

 So, we all hopped back in the pool, gave a lot of hugs, ate some delicious dinner, danced a little, & caught up with lots of friends we hadn't seen in a very long time.

Thanks for inviting us, Jeremy.

We had so much fun!

Water Babies

Thanks to the recommendations of a few fabulous friends, we opted for indoor swimming lessons this summer.  It was so nice not to have to worry about the weather, not to see their little teeth chattering, & not to have to sit there forcibly holding Teresa from jumping in the whole time!  I can not believe how much Andrew & Rebecca learned in one week!

 Andrew really took to the water.  (There he is floating in the camo trunks.)  He was swimming the short length of the pool unaided, which is a HUGE step from where he was last year.  He hasn't learned how to breathe while swimming yet & instead treads water until he's ready to go again, but I think that will be the next step.

After almost negative progress at swim lessons last year, I had no idea what to expect with Rebecca.  Well, she still isn't actually swimming along, but she's bobbing her head, joyfully putting her face in the water, kicking like crazy, & front floating with support.  She also jumped off the board which BLEW MY MIND! 

The most amazing part: she did it all with a smile on her face!  Hallelujah!  There is hope.

On the last day parents were asked to come & watch to see what they had learned.  It was such a great feeling to see their progress.  I loved watching them jump off the board, especially.  The video is Andrew's second jump.  (not loading  :(  )

Teresa of course joined me on the sidelines.  What I didn't know is that she had put on her swimsuit under her dress when I wasn't looking.  About 5 minutes in, she whips off her dress & sandals all ready to go!  No dice, Tootsie.

All cousins, all the time

 We were so happy to have two of our cousins stay with us last week!  Max & Matthias fill in some of our stair step of ages... Max 8, Andrew 7, Matthias 6, Rebecca 5.  They played so well together!  We played at the park, had a picnic, hung out at Green Grandma's (ironically) & tackled with cousin Logan (from Darren's side), & then had a blast at the pool.  I LOVE these beachfront entry pools.  The girls had a blast, the boys could actually swim in my view, & I only sunburnt one half of my body where the sunscreen ran out before I finished.  :P  Not used to spraying 6!

 They spent most of our time at home entranced by LEGO creations in the basement.  They made some really cool stuff! 

 One afternoon I lost track of all 5 for a bit & found them all lying on our bed staring at the fan & suppressing intense giggles.  Goofy guys.  =]

It's so nice to have some non-event time with my nephews!  We really enjoyed having them.