On Saturday, May 31, Corey had the day off from work (a rarity--a Saturday off!), so we had our friends, the Bowens, over to swim and barbecue. Lindsey was a roommate of mine at BYU, and they live in Mesa. Their boys, Jeremy and Tyler are very close in age to Westley and Caleb (they even take swimming lessons together). They have a daughter Megan who is only a couple months younger than Travis. Anyway, we had them over in the afternoon. After swimming and practicing their skills, we had the barbecue. Westley has started going off the diving board with only the pool noodle and Tyler went off the board also. I can't remember if Jeremy went off the board at all, but Caleb wouldn't attempt it. Westley was sure getting brave, and he gets even braver every time we go out there. Actually, it's a bit unnerving because he's really not skilled enough to swim without an adult right there with him, but he thinks he is. So it's kind of a dangerous time for him, and I have to watch him really close. But he's doing better and better all the time! After swimming, while Corey was cooking up at the grill, the kids ran around the patio, playing, riding bikes, and climbing on the "tower". Corey cooked up some delicious hamburgers for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. Barbecue always tastes so good after swimming! It was a relaxing, fun time. We even had popsicles for dessert, but I only managed to get a good picture of Travis for that. Eliza slept in her swing most of the time that we were swimming. She woke up for the barbecue, but was content to sit in her Bumbo for most of it. It was a great day. Hopefully we can do it again later this summer when they come back from visiting family.
Here are Westley, Caleb, and Travis being "Daddy Worker Guys". We went to the Arizona Mills Mall to look for shorts for me and stopped in to have lunch at Johnny Rockets. They gave the boys the same kind of hats. On our way home, we stopped at In-N-Out for shakes and the boys asked for hats again. When we got home, they changed into their In-N-Out shirts, red shorts, and put the hats on and the rest of the afternoon, they were "Daddy Worker Guys" (what Westley calls In-N-Out associates), making food (the plastic food Westley got for his birthday) and running a restaurant. They are so cute!
Recently, Eliza has started eating solids. I've only ever given her rice cereal mixed with formula and then, a couple days ago, oatmeal mixed with formula. She seems to like it a lot! In about 1-1/2 weeks, I will start giving her fruit. I've always just used storebought baby food in the past--you know the Gerber 1's and 2's and then added table food, but this time around, I'm considering getting a food processor of some sort and making the baby food. I can't wait to add some flavor to these cereal meals and see how she likes that. Travis wanted a taste of Eliza's food, and wouldn't stop crying until we popped a bite in his mouth, and then he wouldn't stop gagging. It was so funny! Isn't Eliza so cute?
There was a Bumbo at Andy and Lori's house in Utah when we went for Adam and Eve's wedding. Eliza LOVED it, so when I got back, I looked all over for a cheap or free Bumbo I could use. I found some on Craig's list, but then I remembered that my nephew Wyatt used one, so I called Jenny and got the one they used for Wyatt, which happened to be the one that Traci used for Thomas, so I'm using it now and will give it back to Traci when she has another baby. Anyway, Eliza LOVES it, and we use it all the time. Here are some cute pictures of Eliza.
We've been swimming twice now in the backyard pool here in Mesa. These are pictures from the second time. Even Eliza went in this time. Caleb really liked the new car float and so did Travis. Westley practiced holding his breath and diving for toys most of the time. And I even included a picture of Caleb in his new goggles. Travis is completely fearless and LOVES the water, which is why I'm eager to get him into some sort of lessons, before he becomes like Caleb and cries when he goes in the water. I'm glad it's finally starting to warm up again, so we can do this more often.
Westley and Caleb started swimming lessons on May 12. They are taking lessons with my friend Lindsey's two boys, Jeremy and Tyler. Caleb sure had a hard time at first. He did not want to put his face in the water, and wouldn't try anything else because of that. He even cried so hard that he threw up once. I was about to pull him out, when we bought both him and Westley goggles. Corey told Caleb they were "magic goggles" and he has improved 100%. He puts his face in the water and does all the things the teacher asks of him. He still struggles with blowing bubbles out his nose and mouth and prefers to hold his nose with his fingers. His teacher doesn't want him to do that, which kind of annoys me, since I didn't figure out the whole blowing bubbles out my nose until I was 12. Anyway, I think he's doing so much better just because of the goggles. I'm sure he'll be swimming by summer's end.
Westley is doing awesome! He's getting the hang of swimming. It's great! At least two of my kids will be swimming this summer, hopefully. I'm still toying around with the idea of putting Travis in some sort of swimming lessons. We'll see. I'm just glad I got them into lessons before the In-N-Out picnic, which is at a water park again this year. We are leaving Travis and Eliza home with a baby-sitter and taking only the two older boys. I thought it would be more fun for us that way--with all the water, it's easier to have only two kids to watch. It will be even more fun now that they have the basics of swimming down!
On Saturday, May 31, Corey had the day off from work (a rarity--a Saturday off!), so we had our friends, the Bowens, over to swim and barbecue. Lindsey was a roommate of mine at BYU, and they live in Mesa. Their boys, Jeremy and Tyler are very close in age to Westley and Caleb (they even take swimming lessons together). They have a daughter Megan who is only a couple months younger than Travis. Anyway, we had them over in the afternoon. After swimming and practicing their skills, we had the barbecue. Westley has started going off the diving board with only the pool noodle and Tyler went off the board also. I can't remember if Jeremy went off the board at all, but Caleb wouldn't attempt it. Westley was sure getting brave, and he gets even braver every time we go out there. Actually, it's a bit unnerving because he's really not skilled enough to swim without an adult right there with him, but he thinks he is. So it's kind of a dangerous time for him, and I have to watch him really close. But he's doing better and better all the time! After swimming, while Corey was cooking up at the grill, the kids ran around the patio, playing, riding bikes, and climbing on the "tower". Corey cooked up some delicious hamburgers for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. Barbecue always tastes so good after swimming! It was a relaxing, fun time. We even had popsicles for dessert, but I only managed to get a good picture of Travis for that. Eliza slept in her swing most of the time that we were swimming. She woke up for the barbecue, but was content to sit in her Bumbo for most of it. It was a great day. Hopefully we can do it again later this summer when they come back from visiting family.
