And together we learn

Playing catch up

You know how you don't blog for a while, maybe because you're out of town, then once you get home there's just laundry for days, then you are overwhelmed at the thought of all those missed posts floating around your head so it just becomes easier to not even bother?

Well, that's how the last week has been. Sorry!! So I'm not going to try to catch up or anything; I'll just dive in the middle and ramble. As usual.

We spent a few days at a condo in the mountains. 16 of us in a condo that sleeps 8. Good times. Thank heavens for air mattresses! We took the kids horseback riding one day. The man in the second picture owned the operation and I swear I'm not making him up. He really is just what he appears to be--no artificial mannerisms for rustic effect in this guy!




The kids swam for days and days--Hazel is finally able to swim for 6 feet or so underwater. I've avoided the whole swim lesson thing. If anyone can give me some pointers on how to do them with 2 younger siblings in tow, please do enlighten me.

So she gets swim lessons from me. I guess if I can homeschool her in history and phonics, I can homeschool her in swimming, right?

There's a little creek that runs behind the condos. The kids spent many happy hours splashing in the water. Chloe built fairy houses out of river rocks and fed the inhabitants lots and lots of pebbles. Calvin threw rocks with never-ending delight. Each splash found him throwing his hands in the air yelling, 'YES!!' in that darling toddler-speak way. Hazel played with the bigger boys and generally thought she was at least 5 years older than she really is.

But then, sniff, I realized that she really is growing up. She has been obsessed with the hope of having a 'wiggler' like her friends. She manhandles her gumline, hoping that she'll attain that measure of maturity, but it never materializes. Until last night. When I smiled and confirmed her first loose tooth, the look of joy that radiated over her little face was infectious. She couldn't stop smiling all night. In fact, she confided in me at the Thai restaurant where we were eating, "This is the most beautiful night of my whole life. A wiggler and coconut ice cream!!"

Oh, and Sarah, she is desperate that your daughter find out about her long-awaited loose tooth. Would you let E. know?

This last picture is just because I can. The curls melt my heart every single time I see him. So yummy!!

Labels: adventures, family

posted by Becca at 9:37 PM