Swim Summer

One of our big events for the summer has been swim team. I never liked swim team as a kid. A lot of that probably had to do to starting as a 13 year old. That was way too late and especially so because I probably was 10 year old size. I only lasted that one summer. So ..... beginning last year we had Abby, Meg and Josh swimming on the team.

Josh is actually a "Mini" which means he has lessons and is now swimming. He refuses to swim anywhere except the shallow end where he can touch, though. Monday we were at the pool in the evening and we were the only one's at the pool ( so no one could hear the screams). Being a big meany, I tossed him into the diving part of the pool and he swam his way out. He wasn't pleased but now reports that he can't walk in 9 feet but he can swim in 9 feet.

Josh with Mini coach Dexter

Abby

Meg

Abby and Meg have also been getting more and more confident this summer. Megan missed nearly all of last year with her broken arms but has been catching up to Abby this year. Last week at their swim meet they both set PR's in both free and back. Abigail is at 29.57 in the free and 29.25 in back. She loves backstroke and it's actually kind of odd to be faster in that. Megan did 32.27 in the free and 33.93 in the back. By comparison, last summer Abby was about 45 seconds in the free and Meg about 1 minute so they've made a ton of progress.

Family Reunion

The first week of July we spent some time in Oregon at our biannual family reunion. Back in medical school and residency we missed most of these gatherings so it has really been a treat to go the last few times. We all had a great time and no one got sick (which has happened in the past.) Our drive up and back was uneventful and as a bonus we got to stay and visit with Pam's sister Jackie.

Blake reports his favorite part was riding his bike around everywhere. The week before, Blake had gotten a new bike for his birthday (only 6 months late). It was a big step up as he's never had hand brakes only and gears to shift. We did a bit of practice on the sport court before leaving but he really came into his own at the reunion. The first day there he did a somersault down a short bushy hill but was unhurt and I think that gave him a bit of confidence.

Classic

Joshua loved playing with sticks and hanging out with cousin Bradley. Meg's favorite part was swimming. Abigail liked everything. One of the days the kids had a treasure hunt and we had to take some pictures.

One afternoon we couldn't find Joshua. We had seen him wandering off but now didn't know where he was. Pam and then I took turns on Blake's bike riding all through the camp but couldn't see him. Finally a cousin happened upon him asleep in their cabin and I had to take a picture. Their cabin was right next to ours so it looked like he got mixed up while trying to find his was back to take a nap.