june winds down

I can't believe it is the last day of June already! Where has the summer gone? Thomas has now jumped off the diving board. It cost me $5, and he got to choose where we went for dinner on Saturday night. Fortunately we all enjoy the local Mexican place (the Monterrey), so his choice worked for everyone.

this saturday, we are heading to Tybee Island for our summer beach trip, for the fourth year running. we look forward to playing in the waves, building sand castles, and eating the world's best ice cream at Tradewinds on the main street. I love coconut (odd, I know), and they make the best I've ever had. Even the vanilla is to die for--Thomas's favorite. Iain will surely try the chocolate, and we'll wait to see if Anna deviates from her usual strawberry. We really do have a neapolitan set!

as soon as we return from the beach, we're off to England. we'll spend a week in Durham, checking out neighborhoods and schools. more on that when we return--and, of course, photos.

the week in pictures:

Thursday, June 26:

the last day of Anna & Thomas' summer program at school. (Anna already misses school and wants to go back and see her friends.)

That afternoon, we came in early from the heat outside (while pool maintenance was going on) to paint the tub. A good time was had by all...and I was about to clean it, anyway!

Saturday, June 28:

we had a great time with some of Thomas and Anna's classmates, swimming and splashing--Thomas had plenty of witnesses for his first leap of the season. (It did take some strong encouragement to get him onto the end of the board, however.)




We had so much fun, we'll have to do it again when we get back from England. By then, the pool will be even warmer (as will the air...).

Sunday, June 29:

We spent some more time by the pool--surprise, surprise. Iain is getting very good at propelling himself around the pool in his little swim ring. Anna and Thomas both learned to get around in the same way. Iain enjoys being more independent in the pool, although he still likes to jump to a parent!!

more summer fun

Although we don't get an enormous amount of rain in the summer in Atlanta, we still have to occupy ourselves indoors from time to time. One of the kids' favorite activities is coloring. I buy huge rolls of butcher paper and cover our dining room table--which is about 7 feet long and 3 feet wide, and incredibly sturdy. (I should add that it was handmade by my father-in-law out of English oak for a wedding present.) All three of the children absolutely love to go wild with markers, crayons, or paint (on the rare occasion I am prepared for the mess: that's a third-rainy-day-in-a-row activity).

Thomas, as indicated in the video clip, has grown quite creative and elaborate with his drawing. My favorite is the new breed of spider he's invented, called the eckword spider. Apparently the unit on insects (including spiders, I guess--these are 3- and 4-year-olds, after all) near the end of the school year really stuck. He also draws a pretty good ladybug, with rather a lot of spots. And he is always very careful to draw 6 legs on the insects and 8 on the spiders. The creation in the clip features people rather than bugs, and showcases his developing ability to add narrative to the pictures.

Anna, too, was impressed by the 'bugs' unit, and she has started drawing bugs as well. A couple of days ago, she drew a bug, and when I asked her about it, she told me it was sad. The reason for its sadness remains unclear; the only other thing I could ascertain about the bug was 'it has legs.' Fair enough. Yesterday she was more specific: when Lewis asked whether she'd drawn a bug, she replied that it was an ant. I may include the picture at some future date. Iain still mostly scribbles, but is most keen on writing letters: i and o are particular favorites. Not, of course, that he actually writes those letters in any recognizable fashion. But he says them as he scribbles.

We find other things to do, like playing peek-a-boo (see below: Anna and Iain were having a great time hiding under blankets) and building with legos--a perennial favorite. Still, nearly every day we swim, and Anna and Thomas are gaining strength and confidence in the pool. Before long, we'll see Thomas jump off the diving board, I am sure. Maybe I will catch that on film--one can only hope.

Anna dresses up

Of course, the actual 'dress up' clothes are of no interest: my pajamas are much more fun! She disappeared and went silent, so I thought I'd check to see what sort of mischief she was making. Turns out she was helping herself to my clothes and doing a great job of it, too--tags in the back and everything. I don't usually think of myself as big (nor, I imagine, does anyone else), but those pj-bottoms nearly swallow her up. Maybe we'll keep them and see how long it takes her to grow into them!

poolside fun

Anna and Thomas are busy working on coordinating arms and legs for swimming, while Iain experiments with various swim accessories. He would not be satisfied, for example, until he had Anna's goggles on, just the way she wears them!

Unusually hot days had the pool temperature up well above its usual 75-ish, until an inch of rain fell a couple of nights ago! Still, the sunny afternoons make perfect pool weather, and we are enjoying the pool now in a way we haven't until the beginning of July.

Iain's vocabulary grows rapidly--we can hardly keep up with the words he's learning. My favorite is still 'bulldozer', which he pronounces boo-do-do. Just the sort of toddlerish that Anna and Thomas never really spoke. Thomas spoke not a word at 18 months, and by 22 months could spell his name. Anna, of course, has a language development pattern entirely her own. Thomas' most recent language invention, while I am on the topic, was the word 'mox': it is 'a mommy fox', of course!

June days

This June, we are experiencing record-breaking heat. Good news for swim-time: the pool temperature is already above 80 degrees. But bad news if you have a car with no AC (e.g, our 1991 BMW 325i). It hasn't reached 100 degrees, yet, but today it was just a couple of degrees short. I am looking forward to our trip to the UK in July, and hoping fervently that we avoid Britain's warmest summer days. Temperatures in the 60's (I have no idea what the centigrade equivalent is) would suit me just fine.

Enough about me: here are the pictures (each worth at least a thousand words).

sunny almost-summer days

Sitting in the sun by the pool, it is hard to remember that summer hasn't officially begun! It sure seems like it from out point of view. The kids are enjoying the pool, which is clear but still bracing, daily. Thomas has not, however, actually jumped off the diving board. That is still a few weeks off, judging from his initial attempts at swimming again: he needs a refresher course before he can perform the tricks he did so easily at the end of last summer.

Iain is less inclined toward the big pool. We have set up the small pool next to it, and he quite enjoys jumping in and going headfirst down the little slide. His greatest pleasure, unfortunately, is the 10-yard dash down the pool deck. Nineteen months old is apparently far too young to grasp the 'no running on the pool deck' rule. Also, he is still not able to remember the skinned-knee lesson. So, I repeat myself, and he keeps running. Eventually, we put him back in the little pool, or steer him to some other poolside activity.

Anna has returned to swimming much more quickly than Thomas, who was more proficient at the end of last summer. She still 'swims' with her head up and feet down (yes, it's a real dog-paddle!), but she is gaining confidence, and is much stronger than she was last summer. We hope that she will learn a proper swimming stroke this summer. In any case, she is sure to enjoy herself: she splashes in the small pool with Iain a bit, but spends most of her time in the big pool. By the time we finally coax her out, she's practically blue--but incredibly happy!

This summer will be busy: Anna and Thomas have a special three-week program at school, and then we have trips planned to the beach and to England. I know that the summer will fly by--but we plan to make the most of it!