In July, we headed to Edwards, Colorado (near Vail) for our Edwards family reunion. We rented a condo and 26 of us stayed there together.
We had so much fun with our own little Amazing Race and Minute to Win it games.
The women-folk got some much needed R&R with some delicious breakfast, pedicures, and shopping.
A few weeks later, we headed to Stanley, Idaho for the Baldwin family reunion. Each family stayed in our own little cabins. We spent most of our time outdoors which was kind of tricky with temps in the 30′s at night and 80′s during the day.
This picture was taken right behind our cabin. We had the most beautiful view.
We spent one day at Red Fish lake and had so much fun playing in the water and canoeing around.
Somehow we talked Audrey into doing a dive off the dock and swimming back to shore. We told her we would canoe right along beside her in case she was tired. She got her goggles on and got all ready to go. She dove in and then came up screaming because of the freezing water and jumped right back into the canoe.
She inspire Mason and Uncle Stephen to dive in too.
Audrey and Kate participated in the Provo tri on Saturday. When I first told them about the triathlon, Kate told me that she wasn’t going to do it. Audrey was game, but Kate was quite emphatic about her decision. So, not wanting to force Kate into anything, I only signed Audrey up…. until Kate saw that Audrey was getting a new suit that would work better for all three events. Then, she said, “I think Audrey’s right. I’ll be sad if I don’t do it. So, I guess I’ll do it.” Luckily, there was still time to sign her up. Being the nice Mom I am, I told her she could do it and get a new swim suit, but if she whined at all at the race, we would put her old suit on and take the new one back.
Kate did really good not to whine until we put on her swim cap – which she usually loves. I think she was just getting nervous about things and it was coming out in the form of complaints about the swim cap. I threatened the whole swim suit thing again and she snapped back into shape.
The temperature outside was mid 60′s. The temperature of Utah Lake averages 60 degrees this time of year. I’m pretty sure, it was no where close to that.
Originally, Scott and I were both planning to swim with the girls but once we got there we convinced ourselves that one parent (Scott) would be enough and that way they other one (me) could stay with Simon and take pictures. Audrey started out great. Look at her awesome freestyle in those pictures above.
Apparently, Kate was having a hard time getting started in the frigid water, so Scott picked her up and put her on her back. I had just enough time to take this picture of her screaming before I saw Audrey begin to come back toward Scott and grab onto him because the cold was finally getting to her. So, I ran back to the stroller, stripped down to my swim suit, ditched Simon, and jumped in the water. It was a good thing I went out there. Scott had already run eight miles that morning and was feeling like he’d be lucky to finish the swim, let alone helping two panicking girls. They both finished with a backstroke – well, more like floating on their backs and kicking, but hey, they finished.
While I helped them dry off and transition to bikes, Scott dried off himself and ran off after them.
The girls came back looking great and full of energy. Scott, however was spent! Audrey got back a little before Kate, so I sent her off on the run and then followed along with Kate a few seconds later.
Audrey finished her run a couple of minutes before Kate and was able to cheer for Kate as she crossed the finish line.
I was so proud of both of them. They worked so hard and did awesome coming in, in the last two spots.
I think Kate may have been the youngest one to do it. They rocked!
“Sissy sessons,” that’s what Simon called them. His last lesson was on a day I took off from work so I got to see him show his stuff. I can’t believe this 2 year old kid. But, before I show some video of him diving for “sticks” I have to show this one of Audrey.
In swim team, Audrey and her cohorts were practicing relays. They were taught that if they enter the water before their teammate touches the wall of the pool, then they are disqualified. Audrey stood in the set position waiting for her teammate. Then, at the right moment, she dove in. Straight down. No, really, straight down. It was hilarious.
Here is Simon diving/reaching for “sticks.” He wasn’t down with the other little boy playing with the boat and insisted that the boat be removed from the water prior to his diving for “sticks.”
In this next clip, Simon amazed me when he slipped off the wall diving for a “stick” (that’s what the teachers called the circular ring toys). Naturally, he “pancaked” (another teacher term which means to flip from stomach to back and vice versa) onto his back. Phew. Satisfaction that the swimming lessons taught him to save himself.
We signed the kids up for some super intense swimming lessons and let me tell you, the results are amazing. I can’t decide if I should show you the most surprising one first or last…. I guess we’ll go from oldest to youngest.
Audrey and Kate started a month ago and Audrey caught onto everything really fast. She’s on the swim team now (not a competitive swim team) and doing awesome. She’s even learned how to do the butterfly stroke. Something about Audrey is she inherited her dad’s confidence and she believes she can do things which I really think helps.
Kate made some awesome progress right from the start and then when they started focussing more on technique with her, she started getting feisty and wanting to stick to what made her feel secure (flipping onto her back). So, sometimes we’ll go to a lesson and the teachers will be like, “She’s totally ready for swim team.” And then three minutes later, they’ll say, “Maybe we should do another week of lessons with her.” Something about Kate is, she didn’t inherit her dad’s confidence. She’s more like me and second guesses herself a lot. She’s told me that she doesn’t really want to do swim team, but she does want to continue with lessons. She really is doing awesome though.
Simon started lessons this week. On day one, he floated on his back on his own for an entire minute. His teacher put her hands up to show me she wasn’t helping him and then started counting out loud. When she got to 30, she looked up at me with big eyes. Then at 60, she finally grabbed him to move onto something else. Afterwards, she said, that just doesn’t happen in a first lesson. He’s made a lot of progress in just a few days. This video is of day three. He knows how to make his way to the surface and flip onto his back. He’s still working on making his way to the side on his own, but when he gets to the side, he knows he’s supposed to flip over and grab on and pull himself out.
It is a good feeling knowing that all of my kids would know what to do if they fell into the water.
Simon had a birthday recently and turned 2. Right now he’s really into cars, Cars the movie (and naturally, the characters of that movie), and Thomas the train. We focused presents on those things because we knew they’d be a sure win.
He got some Thomas the train underwear for that day some time in the future when toilet training will happen. He also got (later) a potty seat with Lightning McQueen on it that has a lever on the side that when pulled triggers a revving engine sound.
Aunt Danielle came to visit and Grandma Jeana and Grandpa Gramps came down have cake and ice cream. Jeana and Danielle made a really cool cake of Lightning McQueen.
I think Simon enjoyed driving the car across his high chair tray than eating it. The car’s shape was made as a rice krispie treat. Simon wasn’t so sure about eating it, but once we told him it was a cookie he ate up.
Simon LOVED his new cars – the characters from the Cars movie. He was keen on keeping them in a straight line, maybe trying to copy the later scenes of the movie when the cars cruise down the main street of Radiator Springs.
