A Family First...

We finally went on our first little family vacation - which was well needed for us to have some togetherness time. We LOVED every minute of it. The kids were angels on the drive out to CA on Friday afternoon and we spent the evening getting dinner and swimming in the freezing "heated pool" at the hotel.
Then we spent Saturday and Sunday at Disneyland and California Adventure. The first thing we did was freak Brynn out by trying to get her to go on the Snow White ride - which we later realized was entitled Snow White's Scary Adventure - so Mom and Tyler went on the next few rides by ourselves :) But Brynn's favorites ended up being the Dumbo ride and the tea cups and the carosel. And Tyler couldn't get enough of all the buses (aka our Shuttle) and trains and airplanes and animals.

Saturday we went to Sea World. Thanks to Anheiser-Busch and their "Here's to the Hero's" that allowed us to get in free since PJ is on active duty with the Air Force. We knew Tyler would love seeing all the "fishies" and he sure did. Brynn liked it too...especially their new Sesame Street play area.

In the end Brynn and I didn't want to come home. She wanted to still be at the hotel (one of her favorite things about the trip)...but all good things must come to an end so that we can look back with fond memories and anxiously await for the next time.

Daddy's Finally Home!

Really I can look back and say this now, 4 weeks went by relatively fast...but boy is it good to have Daddy home.

Swimming Lessons: Final Day

Today was #12, the final day of swimming lessons for Tyler. Despite my concerns he ended up doing very well. I'll still have to work with him this summer but he can swim! The video I took wasn't great timing on my part...he's crying, and he really can pull himself up on the side without help but I didn't catch that. However, I just couldn't delete the video (my camera won't hold very much) and do another one because as you'll see he waves to me while he was on the diving board and it was too cute and heart melting to erase...

Random pictures from the past few weeks...

Swimming Lessons: Day 10

Yes its really true, it was only a high of 80 degrees (with wind and clouds and sprinkles)yesturday and here in Arizona that is too cold for swimming :) It was a gorgeous day but lessons got moved from Tuesday to Friday.

So today was Tyler's 1st day back after a long 6 day break. He was a very strong kicker today but he was tired (because he didn't listen to me when I told him to go back to sleep early this morning) so he was a little fussy. But at least we could see some more improvement.

Here is a shorter close-up shot.

Birthday Party!

Since we will be at G&G Peper's house for Brynn's birthday we decided to do her party a little early so she could celebrate with her friends.
It was a Royal Fairy Tale Celebration...
As the kids were arriving they got to decorate their crowns and get their royal bags to collect their prizes in.
Then we played several games. Sleeping Beauty musical chairs where they had to fall asleep when the princess music stopped - the prize was a magic wand. Cinderella Lost Shoe Race where they had to take off one shoe and then run to where it was hiding in a pile, find it, get it on, and race back - the prize was a wedding ring pop. Aladin Hunt for the hidden treasure - the prize was the treasure they found of different candy necklaces, coins, punch ball balloons. Snow White Pass the Poison Apple (hot potato) - the prize was a beautiful, safe, red apple from Snow White.
The "cake" was an icecream cone castle...I realize you probably can't tell that this work of art is a castle but bless their hearts the kids knew right away. I was so excited because just in time for the party I found this hint in my Parents magazine that said to scoop the icecream ahead of time and place it in cupcake holders so that when they time came all you had to do was plop it on the cone and WaaLa no waiting....well I worked hard got everything ready and then apparently didn't close the freezer all the way...brilliant I know. Thankfully I still had a little icecream left over so no one went hungry...even though they did have to wait for it :{
Tyler was a little psychotic about this balloon. It took us forever to figure out what his problem was. But apparently he didn't want it to fly away and hit the fan. Because everytime he saw that Grandma or I was not holding it he would get all worked up and bring it back for us to hold. And uh yes, it was tied down to something....I don't know....
Brynn LOVED all of her presents and she and Tyler spent the rest of the night playing with them. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR SUCH A FUN TIME!

Swimming Lessons: Day 9

Well, Tyler did a little better kicking today so he got to move on to bigger and better things...which he handled OK I guess. Only my camera was being really dumb and so luckily my friend caught his first time off the diving board with her camera - but that's all I have to show. He didn't seem to scared, in fact you can see him start to walk off before she is done telling him what to do. But as you can also see he didn't do such a great job getting to the side once he was in the water...3 more days...he can do it I know he can...

Swimming Lessons: Day 7

Just a video to show PJ how Tyler is wasting our money at this point. Lesson 7 out of 12 and he still doesn't even care that the teacher is explaining to him how not to die!...notice him not paying any attention to her and notice him still not swimiming. I'm starting to get a little upset with him and his mellow, relaxed attitude.

Swimming Lessons: Day 6

Today was Brynn's last day of lessons (she'll get to go and play some of the other days that Tyler still goes). In this video you can see her trying very hard to step off the board feet first and not do a bellyflop - she's getting there.

As for Tyler...WE HAVE MOVEMENT! Its not much, and its not really getting him to the side on his own yet but that's not the point...WE HAVE MOVEMENT! We practiced very hard over the weekend and it must have paid off.

Swimming Lessons: Day 5

AND HE FLOATS...

AND HE FLOATS SOME MORE...

And so pretty much that sums it up, all Tyler does is float when it is really time to swim and kick his legs. The teacher said the longest she has gone with a kid not kicking is 9 out of the 12 sessions - and that he is looking like he might be trying to break the record :/

We found a positive side to this however - he has an AMAZING back float. She can let go of him and he will just float there on his back for quite a while. The teacher said she hasn't had anyone that young do that in 26 year of teaching. I didn't get a video...I will try to do that Monday but here is a picture of his great form :) before she let go of him...

Brynn is still doing good - she is getting better at swimming further and longer and braver.

Swimming Lessons: Day 4

Day 3 and 4 were pretty much the same. Tyler can kick his legs when you ask him too (we've been practicing in the tub) but he still won't do it when its time to swim. He needs to get a move on it. Brynn is doing great but the teacher can't get her to jump right :) In fact, she managed to pull the teacher into the pool with her because she wouldn't let her legs budge first. So here is another video of her great belly flop because she wanted to show daddy she was doing it all by herself with no help off the board.

Just a short clip of Brynn swimming and Tyler lounging in the background while waiting for their turns.