Let's Go Swimming, Swimming at the Pool...

Another awesome night at the Y.M.C.A!

The kids love it there! I can finally leave the girls in childcare and exercise and then pick them up and take them all swimming. I took my camera for the first part (the shallow water) and then had to tuck it away so I could swim with the kids in the deep water.

The kids all wear lifejackets in the deep water unless we are intentionally practicing swimming or some sort of skill with them (we are just too outnumbered!). Here are the highlights of this visit.

1) Katie discovered that if I let go of her, her lifejacket would immediately float her on her back. She found this hilarious and asked me to do it over and over again, to which I obliged. Every single time she went to her back she let out this shriek and laugh in total delight. Adorable. Apparently the lifeguard did not think so, as she shushed Katie several times. I did not respond except to keep letting Katie do it. (Sorry people, do not have fun, this is a pool after all..serious business). :)

2) Joshua wanted to practice swimming (he's very early stages but does great). He swims a lot like his mama. We do the drowning motion, but we actually move forward while doing it. It's quite funny actually. So I stood about 5 feet away from the edge, he would push off, swim to me, turn around and swim back .The lifeguard (a different one) came over and asked Joshua to wear his lifejacket again. I explained that I understood his fear (Joshua really does thrash around but his head stays above water), but that I was right there and how else was he going to get better at swimming. The lifeguard seemed a little more at ease knowing that I was indeed watching him.

CANNONBALL!!!!!

We are finally to an age where the river is becoming just plain fun. Don't get me wrong, the girls are still difficult, require much supervision, and have a short attention span.

But the boys, are LOVING IT! This summer along, Joshua learned to swim without a life jacket, Thomas perfected his skills on the kayak, and most recently they learned how to CANNONBALL! ;)

Joshua doing a cannonball.

Thomas does a cannonball.

RFP with MIH

I made some of my best friends while at college. Our close friends had a baby, Maliya. She was my best friend. We did everything together (in fact her dad was a groomsman in our wedding, her mom a bridesmaid, and she, at the tender age of nearly 3, was a flowergirl).

Somehow, the years passed and now she's going into junior high and I have four kids of my own. And yet, we remain as close as we can. Last week we went to Riverfront Park together. The boys adore her. The girls even adore her (rare for the girls to adore anyone). We stayed as long as possible and had a great time.

I miss my moments with her as she is growing up. I love that we still get to spend time together. And I love the though time has passed, she still holds that special place in my heart.

Maliya, Thomas and Katie in the strawberry ride.

Thomas and Joshua ride in the spinning strawberries:

Maliya and Katie:

Thanks Maliya, for spending the day with us! We loved every minute!

Walking the Centennial Trail

One of our new favorite places to go is the Centennial Trail. The kids love to ride their bikes on the trail and we stop and have a picnic and climb trees and feed ducks. It's great fun!

Thomas found a grasshopper:

The boys climbed a tree:

We went with our neighbors. Try getting all 9 kids (ages 7 and under) to look at the camera? Impossible!

But in the end, the ducks were happy. The kids were worn out. And I'm pretty sure the adults were exhausted! :)

In the Water, On the Bike, Over Terrain...It's Wunderwoman!

So, I did a triathlon. The Wunderwoman Triathlon in case you were wondering about the title. I'm super proud. I trained for months. Was most nervous about my swim, where I did the best I've ever done. And most confident about my biking (where I felt I struggled more than I should have). I was surrounded by some great friends and tons of family and we did it together. I even got to finish the race with my friend of over 10 years, Kim! Will I do it again? Only time will tell. I really wonder if it's like childbirth where over time the horribleness starts to fade and you only remember the good stuff. :)

My friend Jamie and I at the end.

The Masked Kids

The kids went to a birthday party with the theme superhero. They had an absolute blast! We had to leave early to take daddy to his birthday dinner at Re.d Rob.in. The kids wore their superhero masks through most of dinner.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Dan's birthday was the beginning of August. We celebrated with my family one day and with his family the next. The theme this year was football (the boys chose). :)

Every year we make a banner for daddy on his birthday. The footballs contain statements about daddy, including: "Daddy goes to work."- Molly. "I like to play soccer with daddy." - Thomas. "Daddy read me stories." - Katie. "Daddy is good at rough-housing." -Joshua

The Seahawk cake. I really wish I had had more time to actually decorate the cake. But alas, the girls chose not to nap so I didn't get to do the details. Sad. :(

 The inside of the cake.

Cousins-ish

Dan's family is super-duper close. All the cousins remain close, even into adulthood. So, we essentially just call the kids all cousins, even though they are something like 2nd cousins, or something like that.

Here's a picture of the cousins on the stairs at the river. Three sets of twins! Super fun!

Then, another cousin visited. Here's another cousin picture on the stairs. And then a picture of some of the group jumping off the dock into the water together.

Left to right: Misa (au pair), Antonia (9), Nicolai (6), Joshua (5)

Summer Faves

Here are a few random summer faves thus far:

Seattle to Portland (STP) 2011

Every year Dan and his dad, uncle and cousin all take part in a bicycle event called STP. They ride their bikes 200+ miles from Seattle to Portland in one day. It's too much at this point for me to take all kids to Seattle and travel to Portland, so we skipped the actual race route and met up in Portland for the race finish. So much fun! We were able to stop at parks and beaches along the way and the kids stayed in a hotel for the first time in their memory.

Hot tubs, bikes, and summer, oh my!

A favorite activity is always to go to grandma and grandpa's and ride bikes in the cul de sac and play in the hot tub. The children have become little fish and this summer Josh learned to ride without training wheels. And it's great cousin time too! Here are some favorites!

Sunny Days, Chasing the Clouds Away...

Beautiful summer days mean beautiful summer memories. We love to spend out days out on the river with Dan's family. The kids are gettting old enough that it's ALMOST easily do-able! Here are some favorite river pictures.

Happy (belated) 4th of July from the Domrese Family