My goal this summer has been to leave work on time, drive straight to Gran’s and spend some time outside with her and Ella. It’s almost July and that goal hasn’t come to fruition too many times. With Josh out of town a lot, it feels like I spend most of my time during the week working in the yard, folding laundry, vacuuming the floors, bathing babies and disciplining dogs. Since there are only a few short weeks of summer left to be had, I’m going to try and be more purposeful about the time we spend together during the week.
In honor of Father’s Day, we persuaded SD to stay an extra night this weekend and he didn’t head back to work until this morning. Since K & Cory were at the beach and missed our impromptu celebration Sunday afternoon, we decided to coordinate a little shindig at Gran’s for Monday night. She grilled out and we ate dinner in our swimsuits. It made me think long and hard about my childhood. We spent most nights eating dinner soaking wet, with puddles at our feet. We would swim in the dark, watching fireflies and bats swarm overhead. I miss those lazy summer days.
I grew up in the water. Until my parents surprised us one summer with a hole in the backyard, my mom was a lifeguard at a private pool in our neighborhood. Those days, we swam from sunrise til sunset almost everyday. I don’t remember learning to swim, but it was shortly after I learned to walk. The home videos look ridiculous because we’re two and three years old, doing flips off the diving board and swimming the length of the pool underwater.
I wanted Ella to be an early swimmer, too. I want her to respect the water, but not to fear it. We’ve been working really hard to get her acclimated and we’re making leaps and bounds. She is jumping in the shallow end as long as we’ll catch her. She will lunge off of the steps and kick her feet until she reaches your hands. Her new favorite trick is to hold onto the side of the pool and walk her way around it without assistance; she climbs about 15 feet from the steps, takes a rest and goes back. She is practicing putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles. My guess is that she’ll be swimming unassisted by the end of the summer.
Last night, Pop {Gran’s dad} came to dinner and brought with him a tiny life-vest he found when he was cleaning out his fishing boat. She was so excited. Her exact words were, “I’m gonna love it!” In a matter of minutes she was floating on her back and swimming in the deep end all by herself. We made sure she swam some without it, too, but I think it was just what she needed to boost her confidence.
This was a happy day.
