June Happenings

We have been quite busy since we got home from our trip at the beginning of the month.  The first activity of June was swimming lessons for both boys.  It just happened to work out that the boys' swim classes were back to back.  Daniel had his for 30 minutes and then, Nicholas was the following 50 minutes.  We did this Monday-Thursday for two weeks. 

Both boys really improved since the last time they took lessons.  It was very clear that Daniel was comfortable in the water.  He had no problem jumping in or putting his face (or whole body) underwater.  He would have passed his level, but he still has to work on floating on his front and back consistently. 

He did hit one milestone during his lessons though.  He jumped off of the diving board!  I was not expecting that.  All the kids were really nervous about it.  He volunteered to go first, but got nervous and came back down.  He decided to jump off the side instead.  But, then he saw another girl jump and decided to be courageous.  He got back on the board and jumped.  I told him I was so proud of him for not letting fear stop him.  I think the diving board is still a little scary, but at least he is willing to get up there.

Not sure about this . . .

He opted for the side of the pool instead.

But, then he became brave and successfully jumped off!

A little reward after the jump!  

Nicholas’ class isn’t as exciting as Daniel’s.  There are no cute little games.  There is a lot of laps being swum.  Nicholas improved his endurance from last time, especially with his back stroke.  He has 2-3 areas that need a little improvement before he can move to the next level, but we are proud of how much he improved since last time.

An expert jumper!

We have already attended a few birthday and graduation parties this summer.  Of course, the boys’ favorites are when they can go swimming.  They celebrated their cousin’s birthday a couple of weeks ago and spent plenty of time in the pool.

They also took their annual flag shirt picture with G.G.  Of course, I can’t get everyone to look no matter how many pictures I take.

The boys also have had plenty of time playing outside.  It is so nice having a decent size front and back yards for them to play in, instead of the postage stamp backyard at our last house.

Evan and I got to go out on a date night last week.  These dates don’t happen often enough.  One couple from our small group planned the evening.  Since it was about a week after our anniversary, we decided to make it our gift to one another.  So, we headed out for a Murder Mystery.  We all had a great time!  In fact, two members from our group got to be suspects.  There were a lot of laughs and it was nice to get out for the night!  Thanks to my parents for taking the boys for the night, so this could happen!

While the murder mystery may have been a high for the month, Evan hit a bit of a low.  He was leaning over at work and somehow threw out his back!  He had to lay on the ground outside of a customer’s house for a little bit before one of his supervisors could come and help him up.  He feels a lot better than Saturday, but he has to be on light duty at work until a doctor clears him. 

Even though he was on the couch for most of the day, I think Evan had a pretty good Father’s Day.  I had been planning a big surprise for him for a while.  I wanted to do something to show him how much we appreciate him and also, because he has a big birthday this year.  So, I surprised him with a new grill.  I think he was both surprised and excited.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to use it soon (he has to put it together).

Finally, Nicholas started another camp this week.  He is at art camp each morning for two hours this week.  Yesterday they made a sculpture and today they painted it.  Art is something he definitely enjoys, so this camp is right up his alley. 

Well, somebody else has a birthday coming up.  So, this weekend we’ll be celebrating me!  Evan took the day off, which works well for resting his back too.  So, hopefully, more pictures to come.