Pool Time

School is out and it has been HOT!  We have been heading to the pool every chance we get.  The girls love just being able to play in the water.  Their friend Mia has been at the pool as well which has led to endless entertainment.  It keeps the kids having fun and in the water endlessly and gives me a chance to relax in the pool and chat with my friend Stacey.  I have done my laps of the pool as soon as we get there so I can feel like I'm still actively training for my triathlon and then I can lounge about guilt free!  This week I have given Sofia some time off from swimming laps with me since it is her first week of summer vacation.  I had been making her swim with me under the guise of keeping up her endurance over the summer for swim team but really I was just utilizing my eight years swimming ability to set my pace and to make it more fun for me! She humors me and swims with me when I tell her I want her to set my pace but really I could have used her in the ocean last week when I went for my tri clinic!  The kids will both be swimming laps this summer to ensure that they are ready for swim team in the fall but I plan on taking advantage of having some swim partners to make my swimming better as well.  I'm looking forward to a fun summer at the pool!  Her is a video of the girls with their friend Mia having fun together.



Prep Team

The girls and I spend a lot of time at the pool.  Once Sofia's spring swim team wrapped up it dropped down to two days a week for Ali to be on the prep team.  I put Ali into the prep team now because it was only four weeks long and meant I would not have to be at the pool five days a week which would have been the case if I had waited until the fall for Ali to do prep.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to do it but given our schedules this was her opportunity.  She was a little nervous on the first day but once settled in she loved it.  It was amazing to watch her move through the four weeks.  She started her laps zig zagging across the lane to being able to swim straight and not be so tired.  Her diving improved as well as all of her strokes.  She is still working on her breast stroke kick but overall she did great and the coach passed her so she can start the swim team in the fall with Sofia.  She is quite proud of herself.  Here is a video from about the middle of her time on prep team.

Piano Lessons

Sofia has asked about taking piano lessons but we weren't really sure if she was ready for them or when we would even fit them into her schedule.  She has been playing piano on her little Melissa and Doug piano though and learning songs.  We were impressed by how quickly she could figure out the notes for songs just by sound and teach them to herself.  When we would go to her Grammie's house she would spend time playing on a proper piano and would ask me to teach her different songs. (I don't play the piano either but taught myself how to play some songs on the piano from my flute music when I was little).  She picked things up so quickly.  After speaking with a friend whose daughter takes lessons in town we decided it was time to sign Sofia up for lessons.  Her teacher is great and she really likes him.  He seems to really see talent in Sofia and on her second lesson already has her playing with both hands!  Here is a video I took during the first lesson.  I couldn't keep the video going becuase Sofia caught me doing it and it was distracting so I had to just go sit back down but at least I was able to capture some of her lesson.



Father's Day

This year we went down to Rhode Island for Father's Day.  I was looking forward to being with my dad on Father's Day since I haven't been with him for the last few years while we were abroad.  My brother goes out on the boat with my Dad every year and this year we were able to join them.  We asked the kids if they wanted to go on the boat or go to the beach with Grandma and Michael since Michael gets seasick on the boat.  Even though our kids would love to go on the boat they would rather spend their time playing with their cousin so they went to the beach while Jason and I went on the boat with my Dad, Joe, Jenn, and Pat.  I haven't been fishing in years.  The skies were blue and the sun was shining but it wasn't quite warm enough for sunbathing so I got a fishing rod and started fishing for flounder.  I brought in five fish but only one was a keeper.   Between all of us we caught enough fish for everyone to bring some home.  After spending the morning on the boat we spent the afternoon at my brothers before heading home.  I dropped some bluefish off with a friend since no one in our family eats bluefish and took home some flounder for us to enjoy. I panned fried it like we had when I was a kid and it was delicious! I can't wait to go fishing again this summer...I definitely have missed time on the boat and fresh fish.

Happy Birthday Alessandra!

Alessandra turned 7 on June 16th!!! I can't believe my baby is seven years old!  We invited the family over to celebrate her special day.  Jason and I had done as much prep on Friday night after coming home late from hanging out with our friends as possible.  Saturday morning was a bit hectic as I had a triathlon clinic to attend and Alessandra had gymnastics to go to and Jason had to get the house clean before everyone showed up at 2pm.  I could have skipped the tri clinic but I wanted a chance to swim in my wetsuit in the ocean before my race so we squeezed everything in.  Jason did a great job getting everything together for the party.  Everyone showed up and the weather was great (although it was awful down by the ocean).  Ali had decided she wanted a carnival theme so we had the kids play bean bag toss, held egg and spoon race and had a sack race.  After burgers/dogs and different salads the kids were off and playing.  The girls have a good time with their cousins and always look forward to being with them.

Thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating Ali!

Fun with Friends

On the last Friday before school ended Sofia went to her friends house for a playdate while I brought Ali to gymnastics.  After gymnastics we headed home and changed and went over to our friends house to meet up with Sofia and hang out for a BBQ.  Our friends live right down the road from us so it didn't take any time to get there and they are very laid back so we had a relaxing time chatting with our friends while the kids played.  Sofia had a couple injuries from the blow up water slide but she didn't seem bothered by them and kept playing.  Ali joined in the fun as well.  It is nice to be at an age where we don't have to worry about what the kids are doing every second and it is nice to have good friends around for us to hang out with.  Having moved here a year ago it was a concern but one I can now put aside as we have made some good friends.  We stayed until after it was dark and sat around the fire pit roasting marshmallows.  I snapped this picture (not the best quality) of Sofia sitting with her friends by the fire listening to her friend Kiki tell a ghost story.  It struck me as another stage in her growing up...the beginning of her solo friend time without mom.  She is getting so big!

First Grade Field Day

Ali school held a field day for first graders.  Field day, at least for first graders, is not the competitive athletic event that I remember from child hood.  It is more of a fun day filled with games.  The kids had ten different stations that they moved through as a class.  The had a bag toss, sack race, egg and spoon race, leaky cup race etc.  The kids were very excited at every station.  I had volunteered to help on field day and ended up at the Popsicle station.  Not a very athletic station but one of the kids favorites!  It didn't take them long to suck down their Popsicles though so we filled the time with bubbles and Simon Says.  Since we had a break in our station I took the chance to run over and video Ali in her sack race.  She is a good hopper!