look away

...if you are bored of kids playing in water photos, cause that's what I have...again. What can I say, it's been beautiful this year, not too hot but hot enough, and the kids have been enjoying their July.

I love this look on Allison's face. She has a knack for looking like she isn't 100% sure she knows why she is where she is at any given time.


We went to the fountains in front of our local library the other day for some water fun on a hot afternoon. Always a good time there. Quinton was feeling especially mischeivious I suppose. Though he and Erin are the same height and probably the same weight, he managed to grab her over and over and hold her in the water, but she never resisted that hard and laughed out loud each time. I was hoping she'd turn around and do the same to him. Nothing doing. Always the poor, helpless damsel in distress.


Later while toweling off Q would "sneak" up behind her, open up his towel and swallow her up into it with him. He must have done that 10 times and each time she acted surprised and squealed and was delighted. That Quinton is a smoothie.

Next the kids and their friend Rylan returned to the water park we visited earlier in the summer. Given than Erin starts kindergarten in just over a week(!) now, I'm trying to squeeze in lots of these little summer-time excursions before her time is occupied for 5 full days a week. Our fall is arriving mighty early this year.

Kate takes summertime relaxing very seriously. "Hey mama, you're blocking my rays".

I saw Danielle take her over to the chairs after just a few minutes of swimming so I came over to see if everything was okay. "Sure, she said she wanted to come sit down" was the official report. So I asked Kate if she was having fun and she didn't say anything. She just stared off, still and speechless...daydreaming? Do two year-olds daydream? I offered her a sandwich, and she took it but held it off to the side not seeming particularly interested. I think she was embarassed by her mom wearing a bathing suit and splashing around in the pool and she needed a "moment". Point taken.


All the girls spent a lot of time asking Danielle to be an "alligator" and crawl through the shallow water while they rode on her back. I don't pay her enough to have to suffer such indignities and I reminded her of this, but she went along with it anyway.


Erin and I and Rylan and his mom spent some time in the "deep" pool too. Rylan and Erin are each in swim lessons and I wanted to see if she'd swim as well with me as I've seen her do in her lessons lately (which means, she has been swimming for about 10 feet on her own, no floaties, under water). She is much more cooperative and adventurous in her lessons though and much clingier with me when I took the life jacket off, but after a while she did swim to me a couple of times. Progress.