July Catch-Up

 Our July just seemed to fly. The big kids had 4 weeks of swimming lessons.  The lessons were Monday through Thursday for 45 minutes each day.  The lessons were about 25 minutes away so it took most of my morning each day.  The big kids really enjoyed lessons this year and it was fun to see their progress.  It's amazing how much confidence they have gained as they become better swimmers.  Rebecah is a bobbing queen but it was very exciting to see her swim the width of the pool for the first time.  It's amazing to see my kids do something that I have never been able to do. I'm glad we can afford lessons for them so they can develop this life skill.

The babies did fairly well during the lessons although each day got harder to keep them out of the pool.  Thankfully, Joseph was able to take the big kids to lessons about half of the time so the babies could stay at home.  When the babies got too adventurous we would just go walk the halls       of the high school.

Joseph has a free 6 week membership to the YMCA again this summer.  He has taken the kids quite a few times to the open swim hours so the kids can practice their technique.  I would say that trips to the Y have been one of their favorite activities this summer.

The last thing of note for the month was a family day trip to Watkins Glen State Park.  We went 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Lincoln and Annika, and I can honestly say it was easier to do the hike pregnant with them rather than being pregnant and carrying Lincoln up all of the stairs like I did this visit.  I still think it is my favorite place to visit in New York, but maybe the next time we go it can be when the kids are a little older.  We were so busy keeping an eye on the babies that we didn't get too many great pictures.