Typical Summer

I've really been enjoying the summer. It's nice to take a break from schedules (pre-school, dance, etc) and just play. We've been having fun doing school-time and other things to avoid brain rot, but we spend a lot of time playing as well. Here are some typical scenes.

We've been going swimming once a week at my parents' house. Both William and Eliana are refining their swimming skills. Eliana can "doggie paddle" a little and is mastering floating on her back. She loves to go down the slide and jump off the diving board. Will is still determined to drown himself. He loves to jump in the pool with no floaties and say, "don't catch me, mom!" A couple of times I've let him sink a bit to try to put some fear in him, but he just laughs when he comes up. Luckily for me, he likes arm floaties. I guess they give him enough of a feeling of freedom, and they let him go under the water if he jumps in. But they always manage to pop him back to the surface in time. I can't wait until he knows how to swim!
Here's cute little Asher, whose favorite part of backyard barbecues is riding on the cart.

We've been going to a lot of parks as well. If we go early enough, the kids can even slide without getting burned! :)

Here's a picture of Asher pulling Karen's hair. He's getting quite a little trouble-making streak lately!