Just Keep Swimming...

One of the activities we've been doing this summer is swimming lessons for Tyler. Our friend Marissa was here for the summer with her husband who was doing pest control sales. When she first got here we were talking one sunday and I found out she taught swim lessons....sooo...I asked her to do private lessons with Tyler, he was so excited! It took him a few weeks to warm up to getting in the pool and letting go of the handle bar on the steps, but he learned a lot through out the summer and we think he's a lot more comfortable in the pool now. He is a very cautious child (partly my fault) so I think that private lessons was definitely the best way to go to get him used to the pool. He was always telling people about "his Marissa" and how she taught him "big kicks and big arms". He still hates going under the water, or just getting water on his face actually, but it's all about baby steps. Here are some pictures and a video of one of his lessons. We were really lucky that Marissa's apartment complex had both an indoor and outdoor pool, so no matter the weather we were still able to have lessons each week! (And there weren't too many outdoor pools days this summer unfortunately.)

Occasionally, Jacob and I would join in on the swimming fun...only on the really warm, outdoor pool days...the indoor pool was too stinkin' cold!

THANK YOU MARISSA! We will miss you!

Hot Dogs. Burgers. Peanuts. Baseball.

Blue sunny sky, a cool breeze with a hinted scent of grilled hot dogs (and beer), the crunch of peanut shells under your feet, your 3 year old screaming "Strike him out!", and the "Charge!" jingle in the background- Does summer get any better than that?

Jack's company, Raytheon, had a company outing at the Omaha Royals baseball game a few weeks back. We got to hangout with his coworkers at a tailgate party before hand and then enjoyed the game afterwards. We were a little nervous about how Jacob would do at the game but decided to go anyway. At first he just wanted to play on the stairs or chairs and would not sit still (and was driving me crazy), and we were pretty close to leaving at the top of the 2nd inning, but somehow Jack calmed him down and we ended up enjoying 9 innings (the game went to 11 or so innings)! As always, Tyler caught the attention of one of the "Cheer girls" because he was so cute cheering at the top of his lungs with his "#1" finger. She came back a few innings later to give him a baseball because "She remembered he was the #1 fan!" He was so excited! So far from all the games he's been to this season we're getting a nice collection of baseballs, by the time he plays real baseball we won't have to buy any at all! Tyler enjoyed teaching Jacob what to do with the "Charge" jingle went off, after a few times he caught on and would grunt something while pointing his finger in the air, hard to explain...but it was pretty darn cute.

Summertime Fun!!!

We've had a lot of fun this summer! Our summer has been filled with: Cookouts, Camping, Baseball games, swim lessons, County Fairs, water tables , popsicles, playing in the sprinklers, sidewalk chalk, leisurely walks, painting the house, free concerts, playdates with friends, homemade milkshakes, trips to the Zoo...fun fun fun!

Playing with cousins in the sprinklers and pool...

Looking at a rainbow in the water....

Water table fun (this is the best toy purchase we ever made!)... Sarpy County fair...

Relaxing after his swim lessons... Discovering he can climb up and slide down all by himself...Enjoying fruit snacks so much they turn your mouth blue!

We finally started splashing some color in the house, starting with the kitchen, we have many many more rooms to go though, baby steps, baby steps...

Camping Trip

In the middle of July we went on a camping trip with some of our friends, the Doss's, Carleson's, Benson's, and Ellison's. It was the frist time we had been camping as a family, well since we've been married actually! We were really excited and had a lot of fun buying all our camping supplies. Tyler was SO excited to go camping and to sleep in a tent. We went to Two Rivers State park just west of Omaha. We all made our own foil pack dinners and also enjoyed some delicious Raspberry Cobbler, and of course S'mores. Just us and the Benson's stayed the night. They boys did pretty well that night. I hardly got any sleep because I was constantly worrying that Jacob was getting too cold or that he would wake up all our neighbors with crying, but that's okay, who needs sleep ?
I couldn't pick just a few pictures so I made a slideshow, Enjoy!


UPDATE: Okay, so that movie didn't post for some reason, so I have been forced to pick a few (yes, this is a "few") pictures....

Tyler and Jacob helping me put together the tent

Jack became the "Campfire manager"

The Food.

Yummy S'mores!
Beautiful river sunset

Enjoying breakfast