Swimming Lessons

Last January, Annaliese started talking about swimming lessons and how she wanted to learn how to swim; this quickly morphed into her telling me that she already knew how to swim. This seemed like a scary thought (a 6-year-old who thinks they can swim but actually cannot) and so I signed her up for swimming lessons. And since we were already going to be at the pool, I signed Haleigh up for lessons too. It was recommended to do more than one session over the summer so that they would 'really learn things' and with the things we already had scheduled this summer, this turned out be two sessions in a row. Which meant 4 weeks of lessons every. single. day. Folks, that is 20 days of swimming. I think I was crazy. But, now that they are all down, I can enjoy my mornings and be glad that they did actually learn some things! 

We did lessons through the Bellingham Golf and Country Club; our first session met from 8:45-9:15 and was rather chilly! The second session was 8:15-8:45 (no sleeping in for us!) but the weather was warmer and actually quite nice.

Haleigh's class met in the corner of the pool on the steps and had between 6-7 other kids, 2 teachers, and a lifeguard. They worked on blowing bubbles, putting their eyes in the water, doing a starfish, and jumping off the wall into the pool. They started each class by kicking their legs (with their hands on the steps.) It took Haleigh three weeks to start kicking with 2 feet! The rest of the time she kept one foot on the ground and would kick with the opposite leg and then switch. It was super entertaining to watch! She definitely became more comfortable in the water over the course of time and will even put her head completely under now!

Annaliese's class had 3 other kids in it and they learned how to swim with their face underwater, float on their backs and started working on different arm strokes. They also jumped off the diving board regularly and started to learn how to dive off the edge of the pool. 

While they were busy swimming, Lydia was busy walking around the stroller, buckling and unbuckling it, trying on Haleigh's shoes and snuggling with me. She did an amazing job!

Sequim

A few weeks ago, we went camping out at Sequim Bay State Park with my whole family. We were all looking forward to it and it ended up being a really relaxing weekend. Annaliese and Haleigh were super excited to ride the 'ferry boat' and that may have been the highlight of the trip for them! 

 Once we arrived at our campsite, we realized that our sleeping bags were back home. Bummer. (Last year we forgot our big tent. This year our sleeping bags. Maybe next year we'll get it all!) Thankfully, we were able to scrounge together enough blankets and use Ben's sleeping bag (he wasn't coming until the next day) where we all stayed warm and then Ben stopped by our house and picked up the bin of sleeping bags when he came out on Saturday morning. There was a nice bike trail close by that we took advantage of and we were also right by the water so spent some time there as well. Kelsey brought along a few games for the kids, some incredible bubbles, lots of coloring supplies and of course, we had their bikes, corn hole and Kan-Jam along. 

I think they might be looking at a giant slug.

Looking for fish

They played a game where Grandma hid all the bugs around the campsite and as they found them, they brought them to Lydia (who loved it until she fell out of her chair and face-planted in the dirt!)

Hanging out in the sun...which happened to be right by the bathroom!

Grandma had all the kids lined up, eating snacks and watching the adults play Kan-Jam and Corn Hole!

Playing Bingo 

Thursday evening it raining a bit and we were all trying to stay warm and dry as we ate dinner in the rain; however, it cleared up and we saw the most incredible rainbow! Because of the reflection in the water, it was almost a complete 360-degree rainbow and at times it was a double rainbow or even triple! So absolutely amazing! 

We did spend a lot of time at the campsite, but we made sure to venture out a little bit and explore the area around us! We went to a local park with a playground and dogpark for lunch and then went to Dungeness Spit. 

Trying to teach these kids to walk!

The Spit is over 5 miles long!

  

Grandma with Mallory, Annaliese, Haleigh, and Lydia!

Saturday we went to another beach that was recommended. The kids really like to play in the sand and dig for rocks so it was perfect! After a little while, they were all getting tired and wanted to head back to the campground so we spent the rest day of the day at the campsite. 

Kyle and the kids found this big rock and rolled it into the water!

Camping is becoming more and more fun with these kiddos! They played so well together and are able to entertain themselves so much more. This time, there was also a family next to us with two girls, so they played with them a bit, creating obstacle courses and searching for treasures. Annaliese read us a few books, we made smores, ate good food and even fit in a run on the trail! 

The drive home was good, with another ferry ride back. Ben and Kelsey even saw a few orcas at Deception Pass on their way home!

Doing a puzzle on the ferry