Goodbye June

We spent the weekend away, which was our first time away as a family since Christmas. It was a very nice change after spending most of last week at the pool. We spent Saturday at Colonial Williamsburg and Sunday at the Jamestown Settlement. I've already posted pictures to Flickr, for those who haven't seen them yet. Saturday was hot... really hot, especially for Clara who was outfitted in her colonial dress. And although the day seemed full of not-so-good moments: Eli nearly tumbling down a hill, Clara whining about being hot and sweaty, or Lucas whining about being thirsty and hungry, we still ended up having a really nice time. The kids got a chance to tread mud for bricks at the brickyard - their favorite part of the day by far! Jason got to witness an artillery demonstration, which the kids and I could not join him at since Lucas discovered his fear of loud booms. The first time we heard any of the canon-fire, Lucas took off running in the opposite direction of the sound. Talk about a scary moment... your kid fleeing into a crowd by himself! Of course, after the fact we can laugh about it. Sunday proved to be much more enjoyable all around... the temps were milder, and the Jamestown Settlement has a lot to see and do for both the adults and the kids. They have these full scale, fully functional, exact replicas of the ships that sailed into Jamestown in 1607 that the kids ran all over. I know that was Lucas' favorite part as he kept asking throughout the day if we were going to go back to the ships. In addition to the ships, there was also a Powhatan village and the James Fort to explore. It was great fun. The museum there was so expansive that we ended up having to skim through a lot of it. We took a break about halfway through our visit to get some lunch and then took the kids to a playground. It was nice to let them run and expend some energy before tackling the museum. I really loved taking a short vacation, but it reminded me just how much work is involved in trying to get away with 3 small kids. I guess that explains why we haven't done it since Christmas. Though I am feeling braver. This summer we plan to hit the beach for an overnight stay (our past beach excursions have all been day trips). Clara and Lucas are itching to camp out, which I would love... I have always loved camping, but I'm just not sure that I'm brave enough to try that yet with Eli still so little.

In other news, Clara had her first swim meet yesterday evening. For the Little Vikings, it isn't competitive at all, it's just a way to demonstrate their progress in a highly motivating setting. For this first meet, they had to swim the length of the pool with their kick boards. I could tell that Clara was putting forth her best effort, but I could also tell that her coach was assisting her by pulling on the kickboard part of the time. I'm anxious to see how she progresses throughout the summer. Lucas' swim lessons are going very well. After explaining to the coach that his name was not Lucas Black, the coach now refers to him in class as "Lucas Blah". So... Lucas Blah is doing much better... more attentive, even providing the model for behavior in some instances. He still seems like the smallest kid in the class, but size doesn't hold him back. I guess the biggest news is how Eli is doing at the pool. My post on Monday went into detail about how much he hated the water. Each day following, he got closer and closer to actually getting into the water himself, until Thursday he did just that. He spent most of the morning on Thursday in the water, splashing and having a grand time. Unfortunately, it didn't last. Friday he was back to just sitting on the edge splashing with his feet and that is where he has remained. I'm not disappointed... he is still having fun with the water... and knowing that he's gotten in once, I know it will happen again.

Outside of pool stuff... Eli is cutting teeth, finally! Four new teeth are poking through the gums and have been causing him an enormous amount of grief.

On a personal note. I just learned that my good friend lost a very dear friend. I feel very sad for her loss. The news caused emotions to resurface from when I learned of Jason's passing... emotions that I never really dealt with at the time, so whenever I think about it, it still seems very raw. I really miss him.

An End and A Beginning

Last week was Clara's last day of school. She is officially a second grader, which seems so strange to me still. They had an end of year party that I was lucky enough to be able to help with. I helped out with the water relay. It was fun... maybe even more fun since I was on the winning team over and over again. I don't know why it was so one-sided. At one point, a mom asked me to tip the scales in the other teams favor by tipping my teams bucket just a little to let some of the water out. Well, in my effort to tip the bucket on the sly, I accidentally tipped it over completely and dumped all the water out! I felt horrible... especially after hearing the repeated question "what happened to all our water?" Now it's time to forget about that and move on to the summer reading program! Clara has already informed me that when she gets her coupon book from the library this year, that we actually have to go to some of the places to redeem the coupons! In years past, it was enough just to have the coupon book. My little girl is growing up.

Friday the swim team put on the Viking Olympics. All the members of both the Vikings swim team and the Little Vikings took part in a six event olympic-style fun day. There were four teams competing and Clara's team came in 4th and were all awarded Copper medals. She did have fun, but said that it would have been more fun if they could have got in the pool... which is true! How ironic that the swim team olympics involved absolutely no swimming!! Below is a picture of Clara participating in the swim cap relay (the caps were turned inside out, filled with water and then dropped on each teammate's head... the number of caps that "stuck" were tallied) and Clara with her medal.



This past weekend was dance recitals for Clara and Lucas. The dance recitals turned out really cute. We were worried that Lucas wouldn't perform (based on his preschool recital), but we had no need to worry. He got right in there and did what he was supposed to do and even had the audience clapping for him. We are definitely signing him up for dance again in the fall... he seemed to really enjoy it. Clara's recital was great, as expected. Her teacher really creates some great dances for them. Clara's dance was highly energetic... the girls were in constant motion. I honestly don't know how they remember the moves. I have uploaded both recitals to my YouTube account for those interested in watching.



Jason had a nice Father's Day... a nice relaxing day. He got to grill out, which he had been wanting to do. In addition to the cards that we all gave him on Sunday, Clara had a special Donuts for Dads day at school. She presented him with a card, while wearing a tie that she made herself, and enjoyed a couple donuts. The class also did a presentation for the dads, which I have included below.





Today was the first day of "summer" for us. Clara's swim team practice moved to the morning followed immediately by Lucas' swim class. This was to be a great setup... Eli and I could hang out in the baby pool while the older kids had their respective time in the big pool. I was excited! We all headed out in our swimsuits ready for an enjoyable morning. Reality hit the moment we got situated. Eli does not like the water. Wait... that wasn't strong enough. Eli HATES the water. As I was lowering him into the water, the moment his toe hit the water he started crying, and he continued crying even after I caved and took him out of the water. And he continued crying even after he had been out of the water for some time because his swim trunks were still wet. It was almost (I repeat... almost) humorous how upset he was by his wet trunks... he kept pulling at them, like I was going to take them off! So instead of hanging leisurely by the baby pool for 1 1/2 hours, we were on parade (back and forth between the baby pool and the playground (neither of which he was content actually being near). Moving on to Clara's swim team practice... what a difference! The last two weeks, practice was in the evenings and the pool was crowded. Now practice is scheduled before the pool opens to the public so the pool is empty. The swimmers can hear the coaches clearly and I can see a huge difference between Clara's performance before and now. I can't wait until their first swim meet... that should be video worthy! And Lucas... ah Lucas! This was his first swim class... he did good toward the end of the class (and I know that it takes him time to warm up to situations), but I worry that he has designated himself the boy who doesn't follow directions. On a rather funny note... when introducing himself to the coach, Lucas proclaimed his name to be "Lucas blah" (I don't know why he says "blah" after many things, but it's something that he's picked up along the way from Clara). Anyway... for the remainder of the class, the coach referred to him as Lucas Black, so I kept hearing "Lucas Black, feet in the pool" and "Lucas Black, feet down" and "Lucas Black, turn and face me"... you get the idea. After swim, we headed home for lunch and Eli's nap. By the time Eli woke up, it was 3:30p. A friend recently commented that swim was going to make me unavailable to do other things this summer and I was sure she was wrong... swim is only in the morning after all! Well, if today is any indication of what our days will be like, then I'm extremely sad to say she might be right after all.

Clean Bill of Health

Lucas had his follow up appointment with the doctor today. The main concern was Lucas' ears, to find out if the Claritin was enough to get his Eustachian tubes functioning properly. After a visual examination, the doctor was pleased to see that there was no fluid and the tissue looked pink and healthy. He even had Lucas retake the auditory screening. All of Lucas' results were within normal range!! His lungs sounded clear, his nose and throat looked clear (which was a major difference from the last appointment). However, the biggest news (at least for me) that came from this appointment was his weight. In three weeks, he put on three pounds!! In three weeks he gained more weight than he did over the whole of last year. I know that his ears were the major point of concern, but having dealt with his weight issues now for over 4 years... that was definitely my focus. So the doctor wants me to stop administering the Claritin at the beginning of July. I understand his reasons (the Claritin was meant to help alleviate the allergy reaction from pollen), but he is doing so well now, I hate the idea of taking away the medication when dust is another major allergen, which is around constantly. I'm going to try not to obsess about what might happen next month and just revel in the fact that my boy is really healthy for maybe the first time in his life!

No worries

It's been two weeks since Lucas started on the doctor's allergy control regimen. I thought it would be a good idea to post an update. His appetite has become insatiable. He will eat his meal and then a couple hours later be hungry again. A few times he has even asked for seconds at mealtime. Those close to us know our struggles with Lucas and food. He was never hungry and at mealtime had to be forced to eat (most of the time this involved Jason actually feeding him!). So it really is amazing to see him with this huge appetite. And this is just part of it! He is sleeping so much better, too. Not only is he sleeping more soundly during the night, but he is also sleeping later in the mornings. I wish that I could say that all this resting and eating has given him more energy, but I honestly wouldn't know... he still prefers playing on the computer to running around outside. He is supposed to see the doctor for a follow-up visit (to check his ears) and I have to say... I'm anxious to see how much he weighs.

Ironically, I was just writing about how Eli's teeth have been super slow about breaking through, and then all of a sudden this past week... two new teeth have popped out. I'm wondering if more are on their way.

Last week Clara started Little Vikings, which is the junior swim team at our neighborhood pool. It's really more of an intense swim lesson. The hope is that the kids who are on the Little Vikings swim team will graduate and become Vikings, which is the competitive swim team. It's quite a commitment for both Clara and me. It's every day through July 17. Clara is loving it right now. For the first two weeks, it's all about the coaches getting familiar with the skills of each child, then the kids will get divided up into smaller groups with similar swimming abilities. Today, she was so excited that even after all the kids were dismissed, she continued practicing. She even jumped into the pool all by herself... multiple times!!

This evening we had quite a thunderstorm. After I coaxed Clara and Lucas out of their "safety room" (the library where they were hunkered down with their lantern in case the power went out), we stood at the glass door just watching the sheets of rain pour down. What the kids liked most was watching the hail (yes.. hail!) bounce around on the ground. They would scream and then laugh each time the hail bounced off the ground and hit the glass.