Swimming Lessons!

It was time to start swim classes again for the season. Amelia LOVES it!

Walking into the pool on the first day:


Getting used to the water:

Playing with Daddy:

Time for class to start -- they started each class with stretches:

Practicing back floats:

And the much-more-liked front floats:

And of course, she loves to practice jumping in!

They were supposed to practice "alligator crawls" around the lower-depth part of the pool, which Amelia otherwise likes, but this time she thought it would be more fun to hitch a ride on Daddy:

Going down the slide:

After class, she got a reward for all of her hard work -- we walked down for some ice cream!

She's really into the orange soft serve this year:

And here we are... the beginning of week 2 of classes (2 weeks x 4 days each):

All ready to go to the pool:

Alligator crawling with Daddy:

Having fun!

Practicing kicks and scoops (paddling) with the buoyancy of a pool noodle:

Practicing with the instructor:

And how about some videos?! I'm going to start embedding them directly into the blog, unless folks start telling me that they don't like it that way.

Practicing floating, kicking and scooping:

Practicing back floats and kicks:



Playing "simon says" with the instructor -- getting various body parts wet:



Practicing jumps:



"Ring around the rosie" - dipping under water:



Practicing kicking across the pool:

Weekend Fun - June 25-27

Friday 6/25

We're on a budget modification right now.... we returned from our trip to find out that our renters are moving out of our condo, so until it sells (fingers crossed), you'll see a lot of free/cheap fun mentioned here! That's going to be the theme for our summer. :)

On this night, we packed up a picnic dinner and headed to the Powell Festival! Amelia HAD to take this purse:


We met up with the Columbus Crew Cat... a friend she's met many times... but she was acting shy:

And then she checked out the "Turtle Lady" and her herd of turtles:

We walked around the festival and enjoyed our picnic dinner:

Next, Amelia and Daddy enjoyed a wagon ride provided by one of the festival sponsors:

Then we made our way toward the music stage. Amelia really enjoyed the band:

She played ball with "Iggie" the Giant Eagle mascot:

And rolled around the grass with Daddy:

When we left, we cheated on our free night with a bit of ice cream:

She has bad eating habits... like using her hands for ice cream....

Saturday 6/26

On this day, we put on our patriotic gear, to go down to Crew Stadium later to watch the World Cup match (USA vs. Ghana):

But first, we walked downtown for the Farmer's Market:

We picked up some nice, fresh, yummy veggies and Amelia enjoyed a (free) cookie:

We came back, and it was time to get some playtime, lunch, and then a nap. Amelia had to put on her "Princess" dress-ups:

After a failed attempt at a nap, we headed to Crew Stadium to watch (on big tv's) the World Cup match:

Amelia enjoyed the free popcorn they were giving out:

And when she was done, she collected rocks in her bucket:

She looked on in horror when she left her bucket unattended and someone walked by and inadvertantly kicked it, sending it flying. I'm sure that person wasn't too thrilled kicking a popcorn bucket full of rocks, either.

After a disappointing loss, Daddy stayed at the stadium for the live soccer game - a winning Crew game - and Amelia and I headed back home.

She quickly fell asleep for a late nap:

She woke up a little bit later, when we stopped for some groceries. She loves these carts:

She enjoyed a few food samples -- summer sausage in this case:

We got home to discover that the (belated) birthday fairy had visited our back porch:

And she spent the rest of the night coloring in her new Diego book/marker set:

Sunday 6/27

Breakfast time! She wanted princess hair and a necklace for a formal breakfast:

And enjoyed some princessy playtime after she was done:

I think she spent the whole morning running around in her princess gear:

And after her nap, Amelia was surprised by her pool being filled for the first time this year!

She was really hesitant at first.... the water hadn't warmed up and it was only in the 70's outside, so it was a little cool:

She thought it was hilarious to splash Mommy:

It was pretty sunny.... roof time!

Silly girl:

She quickly got more comfortable with the water, and of course, had to drink it, too:

It was time to come in for dinner..... and it was just in time, with these ugly storm clouds coming in!

It was a nice, relaxing weekend, with few plans!