Updates All the Way Around

• Orthopedist says that Sam's leg is just badly bruised. Again, this is the 2nd time we've been told this, but we just have to be sure with the probs he continues to have. Swelling is still an issue, and he can't put his weight on it. Just going to take some time, I suppose.
• Got my rat killing accomplished today with the exception of a beach hat for Sam. I'll be on the lookout between now and then for one. Gotta keep my red monster's ears out of the sun.
• Cleaning house tomorrow and getting bits of laundry done. Bags are 50% packed. :-)
• Jack has his last night of swim practice tomorrow night. He'll be so very sad. I don't know what we'll do when we don't have to go sit for 3 nights a week for 2 hours. We won't know what to do with ourselves.
• Oh, and last but not least, I'm getting my wig did tomorrow and getting haircuts for the boys too.

TuTuTuesday

Tomorrow, we'll be swimming with some friends and having lunch. It's supposed to be a hot one, so it's a good thing we're planning to swim. Otherwise, we'd fry like an egg on the sidewalk. We've also made an appointment for tomorrow with an orthopedist to see why Sam is still having problems walking. Not sure what the answer is, but I just hope there is a good reason instead of a bad one. I never dreamed his pain and troubles would last this long, so I'm a wee bit frightened of what we'll hear.
Tonight at swim practice, we learned that Jack can only be signed up for 3 events instead of the normal 5. We've decided on the 100m IM and the butterfly. We're letting Jack choose his final event between the free and the back. I'm pretty sure he'll go with the free, but he's got a better chance of placing in the back. Most all kids compete in the free and are relatively decent at it. Few of them like, or want, to do the back. On top of that, he's not bad at the back, but he definitely doesn't like it over the free. SO! We'll see what he picks for his final event, but it looks like we're set for All Stars! Looking forward to the meet!

Conversations with Sophy

We haven't had a conversation tidbit lately, so here is one from the file. Last week we were discussing her birthday, and she told us,
"Mom, Dad. Listen to me. I know you already have an idea about what you're gonna get me for my birthday, but I really only dream about two things. One is a Temporpedic mattress to help with these awful pressure points that are damaging my spine EVERY night. It's starting to give me nightmares. Plus, you can jump around on it without your food and drinks spilling! Second, I'd like a microscope because I've really been wanting to see if freshwater and saltwater look different up close."

The Plans They Are a Changin'

As this is our pre-beach week, I'm trying to free up as much as I can, so that I can get the kids good and rested, bags packed, laundry 100% done, and the house cleaned. We had planned to go visit SIL this week to take the kids to the ice cream water park; however, we're gonna make that trip the last week of July when we are home from the beach and swim season is over (more on that later.) I've got a good bit of rat killing/shopping to get done this week. We've decided on what all of our families are gonna wear in our beach portrait, and I need to go find the boys some shirts and myself a sundress or something. We're also doing a Beach Birthday this year for a little funnsie with Cousin E. and C., so I'm on the hunt for some neato things to put in their goodie boxes. Plus, we've gotta get the boys' some haircuts, and of course, Soph and I are getting our beach toes on at the nail joint. In the midst of all the hairum-scarum, we've got our last week of swim team gearing up for the All Stars meet on Saturday in Lufkin. Jack qualified for All Stars in all of his events, bettered ALL of his times, and placed in the Top 10 of his age division! Not bad at all!
I think we may make a run to town tomorrow, and hopefully make it home in time for gym for Soph and swim team. We're in the Beach Countdown '09!! Whoohoo!!

What I'm Up Against

(Sam update to follow)

I'm posting this photo, so you'll see what I'm up against. In this photo, you'll see Sam, his one and only brother, and his wonderful Cousin E~. Do you see that Sam has volunteered (yes, volunteered) to go off of the diving board while encased in 3 inter tubes? I'm sure this little stunt was his idea. 100% sure. Do not blame his accomplices. However, I think this photo may help you understand what I'm up against. We live in a perpetual state of, "OH NO!" with Sam. Always waiting for the next shoe to fall. From what I understand, this is a characteristic that he may have inherited from his father. It was this type of stunt that he pulled off yesterday that left him bruised and possibly broken. So, we find out tomorrow whether or not we can ditch the crutches, etc. He has a fiberglass splint that has kept his leg from moving around which has helped immensely. After dinner tonight, he attempted to walk on his giant splint without the crutches, and he ended up having to stop because of the pain. Not a good sign, but we hope we're just dealing with a really bad bruise and not a hairline fracture. The doc said that the bone was straight, so he didn't think it truly was a break. He was a bit uncertain, since the xray does have a tweek of a line right where he took the brunt of the swing frame that fell on him. We have an appointment tomorrow to see our pediatrician to see if she recommends a trip to the orthopedist. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Once we have that nailed down, we'll be finishing out swim lessons for Jack this week and then heading to the Championship meet on Saturday in Nacogdoches. Jack is really fired up for this meet, and I hope he does great! He has been smokin' at practice this week, so hopefully that is a good sign! He was fourth in the entire age division at the last meet for the freestyle, so HANG ON TO YOUR GOGGLES!!! This could be good!

Next week, I have my yearly female visit on Monday and hopefully lunch with a friend in Shreveport. If you have to subject yourself to such, you should be able to enjoy the rest of the day at least, right? Ug.

After that, I plan on taking the kids to Austin-ish to visit my SIL and kids. We'll be doing our annual trip to the Blue Bell ice cream waterpark and hopefully to another waterpark my SIL has discovered. The kids are fired up! Can't wait to see what we'll get into!

Our beach trip is fastly approaching, and to say that the kids are ready, is an understatement! We're excited to see Cousin E~ and C~ and Aunt R~ and Uncle C~ and Pmil and Ptom.....WE JUST NEED TO GO!!! RIGHT NOW! Just 2 more weeks, right?

We're planning to get a quickie to Vegas in for me and Soph to visit with T and the M's the last week of July. I think it can happen. I think it can. I think it can. I mean, Sophy heard about M&M World there, and who can miss that? And the stars won't be aligned that weekend, so surely it's okay that M2 and Sophy are together. Right?

I think the week after that is the week we'll visit in Arkansas visiting G'Pa and G'Ma Arkansas. I'm sure we'll fish and hit the lake like last year which will make the kids happy. They love visiting G'Pa Arkansas and are looking forward to our trip.

The week following, DaddyP and I will be in Nashville, and hopefully Rachie will meet me there. DaddyP has work there, and if Rachie can meet me there, it will be super! A co-worker will be visiting a college friend there, and we're hoping to be able see the sites while DaddyP works. I've never been to N'ville. Anybody have any info?

Ok, I think the kids are asleep before 10pm for the first time in 2 weeks. I'm off for a swim and then finishing Book 3 of the Twilight series. Hopefully we'll get good info at the pediatrician tomorrow!

Topic Tuesday

Today's topic, What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

Camper lust & Other random oddities

Random:

• I've taken a liking to Hollister tees. Why? They're longer in the waist than most other tees, but they fit snugly.
• New Moon is better than Twilight. I'll start Book 3 tomorrow.
• We've been bit by the Camper Bug lately. Conveniently, there is a used camper, in good condition, for sale in our neighborhood. Hhhhhmmmm....
• Tickets to Michael J*cks*ns funeral were selling on ebay for $10,000. Wonder if the tickets to his concerts were going for that much. I mean, I'd rather pay that kinda green to see a live person, but that's just me.
• I tried a new Cranergy Green Tea from Ocean Spray, I think. I guess it was alright. If ya like that sorta thing. Which I don't. PDad thought it was good, so there's that bright bit of news for Ocean Spray.
• It rained on my house 2 days in a row. Yip. EE!!
• I wish hurricanes would start getting ghetto names. They'd be way more interesting. I mean, TS Blanca? Blanca? Whatever.
• I had a happy meal for supper tonight, and I enjoyed it immensely.
• McDonalds wants me to tell you that their brownie melts are a tasty treat that you should rush out and buy without delay. But my mama always told me that lying was wrong.
• Sam wants a video camera to start "interviewing guests" and "filming scenes" to put on his own "website." I'm giving this considerable thought because I think we could be onto something here.
• Subway has a new flat bread sandwich that I'm gonna take for a test drive eat tomorrow, I think.
• Stay tuned.

Shake it like ya did last summer, baby.

I have no idea what the title of this post means. Don't look at me. I dunno.

Jack started swim lessons today. He mostly was working WAY below what he is capable of, but he can't do Jr. Lifeguard for several more years. In the meantime, we're just refining what he knows. He did have to do a timed water tread today that taxed him a bit. It was longer than he's had to do up to this point in his previous lessons. It was good to see something challenge him, since he thought that he would just show up and skate through it all. His new teacher told him that they would be treading water while holding a brick tomorrow. Hehe. He looked worried for a second. I'll take the Flip, just in case something interesting happens.
We'll be finishing out lessons this week for Jack and doing swim team in the evenings. Saturday is the Championship meet. We had to decide this evening which events to put Jack in and what to cut him from because they can only place in 5 events. Jack has competed in up to 7 events per meet, so we cut him from the breast stroke (his least fav) and possibly the medley relay. He's excited about doing the 100m IM again. I gotta admit, it's my fav to watch along with the free relay. At the champs meet, they'll only give medals (no ribbons this time) for the top 3 places, so he better swim like he's on fire! This will probably be Sam's last meet, since the only meet after this is the All Star meet which he probably won't qualify for...but Jack will. It'll be a long, hot meet. That's for sure.

Another American Moment

We had a very eventful family celebration for the 4th at our house. You see, we inadvertently set our neighbor's front and back yards on fire with the smoldering debris that rained down from the sky as DaddyP and my brother launched a barrage of firepower frightening enough to have my youngest child weeping and saying, "I'm too young to die..." She wasn't pretending to be worried for her life. She was genuinely concerned, as were we all.

Here is a photo of the children during happier times....times when they clapped their hands with glee and shouted, "Hooray for Daddy and Uncle!" Little did they know that we'd soon be soaking beach towels in the pool to toss over the fence in an attempt to not burn down the neighborhood.

And then the testosterone took over and the rest is burned up history. Much like portions of our neighbor's yard.

This was early in the evening, but I love it because Jack looks like the Silver Surfer.

We hope the 4th of July was a safe and fire free event for your family!

An American Moment

To prove how much I love America, I just removed all of the food from my fridge and cleaned and sanitized all of the shelves/drawers. Take THAT Iran!
Now, we're just waiting on some folks to show up, and we'll be celebrating America a wee bit more!

Summer Reading List & and Unexpected Bonus

Someone recently emailed me and asked what was on my summer reading list. That's a good question! I sort of have books stashed in every nook, cranny, vehicle, and website there is, and organizing my thoughts in that direction might be a good idea. Here is the short list!

• I started an audiobook while we were in NC that I don't think I will finish. The narrarator's voice just sends me over the edge with this almost fake, but very pretentious, British accent. It reminds me of Miss Jane from the Beverly Hillbillies. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hillbillies, for obvious reasons. But Miss Jane...~~shiver~~
• Once my book club book arrives from Amazon, I'll start it. It appears to be a fairly large book, so I better get started on it as soon as it arrives. Not sure how I'll manage that with the looming stack of books currently growing on my nightstand. If you've read The 19th Wife, let me know, eh?
• Ok, so Twilight. Yeah. I know what you're thinking. TWILIGHT?? I know. I know. I'm not a vampirey person. I've had no desire to even read this book, but after much cojoling from my SILs, I finally caved. Guess what? It's a good book. There. I said it. And now, I'm reading Book 2 in the series, New Moon. I'm still not a vampirey person, but I wanna know how the story ends. It's intriguing, to say the least. As far as a vampire themed novel goes, I'd say it's pretty tame and not an offensively gorey or dark story. I was actually surprised by how UNdark the story is. If you've read the books after Book 1, I'd like to hear from ya. And honestly, I think I'm one of the few that hasn't, so I should hear from lots of ya. Email me, please. EJo? Have you?
• I'm pretty excited about my latest book purchase for a couple of reasons. First, it's an Austen themed book. Hehe. The second reason I'm excited is because if you have the Barnes and Noble app on your iphone, you can take a picture of ANY book cover and get the book review, price, info, etc. My friend was showing me this as we went through Barnes and Noble last night after Tokyo taking pictures of random book covers. Definitely an unexpected bonus to the iphone, in my opinion. I'm a die-hard Amazon customer, and I prefer their reviews (have their app. too on the iphone,) but still the B&N app is a cool feature. While using it last night at the bookstore, I realized that the book I was buying, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, was actually the second book from this author. From what I understand, you don't have to read them in any order, so I'm going to start with the second book and then hit the first. Pretty excited about both of them! The first book was True Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

Ramblings on the 4th

This is one handsome boy!

And this is one determined girl!
And this is a pool FULL of nutty kids (Miss Determination would not get in the photo!)

We had a blast yesterday with Ye Olde Friend, ~T~, and her four kiddos who are visiting from Vegas--they are originally Texans, just so ya know. As predicted, Sophy and M2 are quite the pair. Several years ago when they both (without knowledge of the other) began wearing only underwear and pretending to be Tarzan, we vowed then they should never be together without serious supervision. Within minutes of meeting, Sophy and M2 were in her room with the door shut and a gleam in their collective eye. Very, very freaky. They played happily together all day, and Little R is a dreamboat, and M3was determined to NOT speak to me, and M1 was such a little lady that I was envious! LOVED spending the day with them! Looking very forward to tripping to Vegas in the near future! Thanks for making time in your CRAZY visit to come see us guys! Loved it.

C~ came over last night to watch the kids while DaddyP and I went out to eat Japanese with some friends at Tokyo. It's a nice place, but I kept wishing I was eating Italian. The sushi was good, at least. The kids had a blast, as usual, with C~. They made paper airplanes with a paper airplane kit, colored, played the Wii, and C~ and Sam looked up the solar system online and arranged the planets hanging from his ceiling in the correct formation and made a sun and moon to hang with the planets. Have I mentioned how much Sam loves C~? Have I mentioned that C~ is as cute as two buttons? Not to mention that she has them in bed at the right time with the house picked up when we get home. Uh-huh.

We're just chilling this a.m. without any plans. It's so ridiculously hot outside today, so we're just staying inside as much as we can. DaddyP has an afternoon wedding to shoot, and we'll be grilling burgers this evening after he gets home. Not sure who is stopping by, but I think the cousins2 may come swim/eat. Uncle M bought a trove of fireworks, which you may recall are illegal in Mtown. I'm sure we'll be setting them off in spite of that law. Nevermind we're a little dry around these parts. We're talking about men and explosives. I'm scared.

My friend E. and her daughter R. may be stopping by tomorrow for a visit while they are in town visiting E's family. Jack will be very upset that her daughter S. isn't with her, but I'll be happy to see E. and R. just the same!

My laundry piles aren't gonna wash themselves, so I better get to washing.

Happy 4th of July, people!

Things that make ya go hhhmmm....

Because my thoughts are all over the place, I think I'll just take the easy way out on this update.

• Ice Age was SUPER! Highly recommended! We saw it today with the cousins 2, aunt/uncle, and the Meem-Pop. I think the adults liked it as much as the kids. Very funny and kid friendly. See it without delay even if you leave your children at home.
• Sometimes ya just need to see what all the fuss is about, which is why I've decided to read Twilight. I swore I wouldn't do it, but enough is enough. My SIL let me borrow it, so now let the record show that every human on the planet has now read it because surely I'm the only one who hasn't. I am one of the few adults that I know that has not read it. I'll let ya know what I think. Speaking of books, I placed an Amazon order tonight that included my book club book and a few others...I'm very excited about one of them in particular. I'll tell ya about it later.
• Michael Jackson's children. Uhm, are they genetically his? Because, dang. Ya can't tell by looking. I'm going with no as the answer to that question.
• Wipeout. Are you watching this show on Wednesday nights? If you are not, you need to have your head examined.
• I'm excited to get to see my college friend, Terri, on Friday! Ter is in The Lonestar State visiting family, and we've planned to meet up with all of our kiddos (and what a brood that will be when they're all together) for a visit! Can't. Wait! FFUUNN!!
• DaddyP and I are going out for Japanese food Friday night with friends while ~C~ stays with the kids....which will make Sam the happiest of boys.
• No swim meet Saturday (sadness!!), but the boys did get their ribbons at last night's practice. Sam actually got THREE ribbons, and Jack got one for each of his events. They did great!
• Speaking of Saturday, we'll probably decorate the mule or the bikes for the kids to ride in the annual neighborhood parade. DaddyP has a wedding to shoot that afternoon, and then we have firework plans for later that evening.
• Another friend will be in town for the 4th, and we're hoping to hook up on Sunday to visit! Squeeeee!
• Ok. I think the things that have made me go hhhmmmm...are over.
• Goodbye.

Book Club Update

The book club convened at J's house tonight. The proceedings kicked off with some cute, tiny sloppy joes, a bucket of grilled KFC chicken, some tasty pasta salad, a layered Mexican dip, and a cake from Kroger's shaped like a watermelon. Oh yes, we were in food heaven! Shortly after eating, we congregated in the pool and discussed our latest book, Holmes on the Range.
Most members gave it a mostly favorable review even while noting it wasn't really their type of book. DaddyP is currently reading my copy and intends to read Book Two in this same series. I believe there are 4 books total, but I do not know how many in our group intend to continue with the series other than the member who recommended the novel.
If you haven't already checked out the book, you can read about it here. I think in order to truly enjoy this novel you might first need a love (or healthy respect) for, first of all, a western novel. Second of all, and most importantly, you must love a mystery. The mystery in question in this novel is a murder that needs solving, and these 2 (one is illiterate) cowhands decide to try their hand at figuring out who the guilty party is. Like I said, this book is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's neat to read a book in a group to decide what you did like about it and to pick apart what you didn't. I can honestly say that I've never really read an honest-to-goodness mystery, and I'm glad to have this book to fill that spot. With our previous hostess being a mystery lover, this title was a shoe-in for her to recommend. I know that were it not for being a part of this book club, I would NEVER had read Little Dorrit or Holmes on the Range.
See there? Proof already that this book club is broadening my mind. Now if we don't stop with the random and fattening food choices, it'll be more than my mind that is broadening. Haha.
At each book club meeting, the person hosting the club gets to choose the next novel to be read. We always have one book that everyone has to read. It's like our focal book. In addition to that book, we also have several other books to share/recommend/suggest that we may or may not opt to read. While discussing our focal book, we'll also have these side books to discuss with whomever happened to have read them. This month, along with Holmes, one of the other books that we selected was What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman. Ya know, I honestly didn't like this book. I liked the plot and where it COULD have gone. Instead, the storyline seemed to get out of hand. Like the author got crazy and then couldn't pull the story back in tight enough to end it on a reasonable note. I had high hopes for the book, but I figured out the 'twist' long before I think it was supposed to obvious. The only other book that I can compare my dislike to this one would be The Memory Keeper's Daughter which I initially chose because I liked the cover (and because the odd little man at the bookstore said it was "wonderful.") This novel was such a disappointment to me. The plot had such potential, but the story just seemed to spiral out of control in such a Jerry Springerish way that I totally lost interest about halfway through the book. To me, these two books were very similar in that they both let me down equally. Haha.
And so, drum roll if you please, our hostess tonight, J., informed us of our next read that we will be discussing at Olive Garden (yay!) Here is some info in case you are interested!
(Sidenote: We also discussed our Netflix interests tonight, and several gals have Lost in Austen waiting in their queues. Can't wait to get mine in to watch! Curious to know if and when you watch it too!) I'm very curious about next month's book. T.Spoon will be choosing that one, and one never knows about her. We'll just have to wait and see, but for the month of July, we're reading about the Mormons!
Must be off to bed now. Cousins2 are sleeping over tonight, and I'm beat from getting up way earlier than I wanted this morning and then having the brain strain of hiring committee added to the day. BARF! Hopefully the cousins and kids will sleep late (haha) in the a.m. We're heading to see Ice Age tomorrow, and I think I'm as fired up as the kiddos!

A few birthday pics~

(Unrelated sidenote: It rained and rained here this afternoon with temps in the high 70's!! Oh, we needed a break from the heat so bad, and we got it! Even now that the rain has stopped, the sun has been hesitant to glare it's ugly face today. Thank the Lord!)
5 minutes into the party, Sam was yanked from the pool for unsportsman like conduct. Actually, if ya wanna put a fine point on it, he was yanked for inappropriate language. Here you see him warming the time out chair.
And here you see the eleven year old blowing out his candles! Check out the hair! In case you're wondering, the other children had refreshments also. I just bought a small cake for Jack's candles and a couple dozen mini cupcakes otherwise. What can I say? It was 136 degrees outside, and I wanted to move things along quickly.

The partying crew!

I'm off to the AT&T store to pick up some stuff for my new phone. (Did I mention here that DaddyP got me the new iphone? Not sure what got into him, but it's charging as I type. Note to iphone-ers, Ebay has tons of VERY cheap cases, covers, accessories, etc. WAY cheaper than the AT&T store/Best Buy, etc. And the selection is enormous! Check it out! A friend pointed me in the ebay direction, and I've found the CUTEST covers there. The best part is that you can buy multiples to change them out for dirt cheap!)

The rumor is true. It's Monday.

So, I woke up this a.m. I know. Shocked me too.
The kids are playing Jack's new racing game for the Wii, My Sims Racing. We're HUGE Mariokart fans, but I think this game is going to be a hit. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to let ya know the difference. Just email me! Loads of perks compared to Mario.
I have to go to school today for a committee meeting (barf,) and Pmil is coming to stay with the kids. Not sure what time I'll get outta there, but maybe we'll get some time to swim this afternoon before gym and swim team. The boys should get their ribbons from Saturday's meet at practice tonight.
I really should be doing laundry or something before I leave, but I just ain't feeling it this morning. The cousins2 will be spending the night tonight. We weren't really planning a sleepover, but they begged and begged and laid it on pretty thick. So, they'll be here late this evening after gym and swim, and I suppose we'll play for the better part of Tuesday. It'll be nice to stay home, since we haven't been able to do that yet since school got out. As a matter of fact, I think this entire week will be full of nothing. Wait, except on Wednesday. We have a group movie thing planned to see Ice Age. The kids LOVE Ice Age, so they are really excited about seeing it.
Not really sure where June went. Our first week out of school was spent camping, the next week was spent in NC, and last week was swimming lessons with all the Saturdays in between spent at out of town swim meets. June has been a blur! I don't think July will be as busy, although I think I'll be babysitting the cousins2 for a few weeks while my mom recuperates from foot surgery #325. As far as I know, we have a couple of trips coming up in August (Arkansas and Nashville,) but in July, we only have the beach--(ONLY, haha! We're so fired up about going to the beach! Can't wait to get to that place!) I need to talk to my SIL to plan on our annual trip to the Blue Belle water park in Brenham. The kids have been asking about it, and I usually make a trip with them to visit for a few days. Maybe we'll hook that up in the next couple of weeks while DaddyP works.
Well, I've delayed the inevitable long enough. I must bust a move.
Mr. Weather Man says that today will be another cool, pleasant day. Lots of breezes and refreshing showers throughout the day. He also tried to sell me the Golden Gate bridge.

Playing Catch Up and Giving Birth

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately, but things have been cuhrazee around here. The swim meet yesterday was h.o.t.h.o.t.h.o.t.h.o.t. The temp was 102, but I think the index was at 108. It was just so hot. The boys both did great and both will probably ribbon. Jack moved up in the standings from the previous week, but we won't know officially until Monday night at practice. They did post a few results before the meet was over, and we know that Jack moved up from 11th place in his division for freestyle to #4 for his entire age group!! He also competed in his first 100m IM, and he did exceptionally well in his heat. We aren't sure of his final standing, but we're thinking his heat time was fast enough to allow him to hold onto the Top 3 for that event. Sam actually (surprisingly!!) placed in the breast stroke at his previous meet, and we saw on the results board before we left this meet that he was 8th in his division. That means he'll get a ribbon at tomorrow night's practice. I'm pretty sure that Jack will ribbon in all of his events from Saturday, but we'll see.
We celebrated birthday #11 for Jack today. It's hard to believe that at this time 11 years ago, he was less than an hour old....being born very late after such a long and disastrous day of laboring. We spent the afternoon swimming and having cake with friends/family, and he had a wonderful time. The adults who weren't in the pool were pretty miserable, but the kids had a good time. DaddyP took Jack out for the evening to have some Man to Man Time, so I'm watching Joan Crawford in a 1939 film called The Women. I'm enjoying this movie immensely. I love old movies, and wow. This is about as old as you're gonna get. Those hats! Oh, why don't women wear hats like that anymore? Off to watch..

Cousin Sweetness

Our dear, sweet Cousin E. is here, and Sophy's world is complete. Of course, she's going home tomorrow....and oh the sadness that will commence. We've had a great week of fun and pretending and swimming and silliness.

Videos from Lil Flip

We're on Day 3 of swim lessons. I took the Flip today, so here are a couple of short shots. Sam is trying to get out of Red Cross level 5, I believe. In this clip, he was having to survival float for 30 seconds, I think. Survival floating is really hard for a kid because they have to fight the urge to tread water. They simply have to be limp and relaxed in the water while only raising their head to get air. Sam had to fight hard not to move. Sophy is also in 5-ish (haha.) Here she is working on her front crawl/freestyle. She had completed one pass prior to this, but she did the entire thing in one breath, so they made her go back and do it over. In case you're wondering, these are the Red Cross requirements for Level 5. (Having said that, I think I'm a Level 1.5.) I can't say enough about making sure your child's swim lessons are the of the Red Cross variety. They really stress water safety and make sure that your child is prepared to hit the water in every circumstance possible.

Day #5-Segways!

(And a Happy #37 Birthday to DaddyP!! He doesn't look a day over 25...or so. Have I mentioned that 5 different people have asked us if we're on our honeymoon? When I tell them we've been married for 12.5 years, they're amazed. Maybe it's because we're immature? Hehehe.)
I hate to leave out a description of our Rooftop tour that we took of the Biltmore House this afternoon, but it's just going to have to take backseat to our Segway excursion! Hands down, this was the MOST fun I've had in a verrry, very long time. After checking in and meeting our guide, Joshua, we spent about 30-40 minutes doing a "rigorous training" for off-road Segwaying. This training included learning how to drive the machine, how to stop (most important,) what NOT to do, how to crash, what NOT to do, a cone driving course--oh-so-much fun, and oh...what NOT to do. Our group consisted of about 3 other couples, all of them were in their 50's-60's...one was the owner of the Tractor Supply stores. He was just an average guy, except he drove a really nice car. Where was I? Oh yes, so we trained in a small grassy field with Josh. He was a really nice kid who loves his job! We had a good time with that guy.
After our training period was over, we started off on our 2.5 hour trek around the estate. I mean, learning to operate a Segway is one thing, but taking your Segway around a place as beautiful as Biltmore, it was like Segway heaven! We stopped several times to rest. You wouldn't think it's tiring, but in a weird way, it really is. If you've ever used a Wii Fit balance board, you sort of have an idea of what it takes to off-road Segway. So, we started out on some paved paths that looped around the outer limits of the estate, and we moved on to greener pastures (haha) to test our off roading abilities. The Segways that we were on are different than the typical version (basically it's the tires that are the differences...that and the off-road version costs about $5,000 compared to $2,000 for the regular version.) Our tour was extremely organized, and Joshua let the group set the pace. Eventually, we vamped up to the chip that lets you smoke around at 12mph. This doesn't sound like much, but when you're controlling your every movement with the balls of your feet and a computerized gyroscope. Trust me, 12mph is booking! But oh the fun! At one point, Joshua gave us "Segway recess" and turned us loose in a grassy field. I'm sad to say that DaddyP was involved in the only crash of the entire outing. And I'm even more sorry to say that I was the target of his crashing. Yes, he took me out in a blaze of glory, right there in the green pastures of Biltmore. I have a slight bruise/goose egg on my shin where his Segway pinned my leg to my Segway and a bloody scratch on my forearm, but other than that, we survived. Somehow, I should've expected a crash out of the Crash King. Haha. Luckily, HE wasn't injured! That's the truly miraculous news!! Hahaha. We were up and back on our way with minimal assistance (once we were able to stop laughing,) and back on our way to the Finale of the ride which ended on a cliff overlooking Biltmore House. Totally, totally an morning well spent!