Indoor Pool

After naps, we headed to the indoor pool at the Community Center. The kids loved it! It was our first time there and I'm thinking we should really consider buying a membership for this winter. Addison and I would definitely get our use out of it.

Daddy was a collegiate swimmer and hopes Addison follows in his footsteps.

She loved the lazy river and wanted to hold onto the tube all by herself.

Don't worry, she still had a tight grip!

Plus, Daddy was right there with her.

Playing with the watering cans, just like the good ol' summer days. Missing those summer days already...

Playing basketball.

Watch out, Lebron!

But nothing was better than the slide. I believe Addison went down the thing at least 100 times.

Rounding the corner for another trip down the slide.

And another...

And another.

Escorting Noah for another ride on the slide.

They are just too cute for words.

Our angel, a true fish!

Pool Party

Our neighbors (the ones I speak of the most because A) they live right next door and B) they are Addison's best friends in the 'hood) invited Addison to swim in their freshly blown up pool. She was napping at the time and the 3 of us were planning on going to our pool later, but after over hearing them whine, "This isn't very much fun without Addison", I just knew we couldn't let them down. I had a feeling Addison would take some time getting used to the frigid water (our pool is heated to bath water temperatures), but thought she would have fun with the kids. It was a good chance for Dustin and I to get some yard work done, too.

Of course, as chance would have it, Addison took an extra long nap that afternoon and the kids were on pins and needles just waiting for her arrival.

Once she came to the pool party, the fun began.

They called this came "4 corners".

The 6 year old and I invented a game called "Water Soccer-Lacrosse-Pong". Addison saw us playing and wanted to give it a shot herself.


No one was brave enough to stand in as her competitor. We all know how tough she is. Just look at that face!


The girls swam themselves hungry and enjoyed a nice snack. (Addison borrowed one of the girls sunglasses. She is obsessed with sunglasses!)




They had a really good time together (for nearly 3 hours) and my Petunias thanked me for the TLC.

Pool with Noah

Julie and Noah came back for the weekend and my brother-in-law, Josh, came down from Cleveland to join them. The guys went golfing on Saturday. We headed to the pool in the afternoon and met up with them once they finished their round of golf for some swimming and poolside dinner.


Don't you love the sunglasses? They came with the outfit that Kristin brought for Addison on her visit. She wears them all the time and when she doesn't have them on, she is asking for her "glasses".

The Addisons visit the Pool

After the zoo, lunch, and naps, we headed to our pool. We were really looking forward to cooling down in our very fun pool at which Addison Hope and I spend a good number of days a week. We arrive to find that the pool complex would be closed for the remainder of the day due to a "biological accident" (aka some kid pooped in the pool and all the pools had to be drained and refilled). Lovely. Fortunately, we have access to another nearby pool and though it's not nearly as fun for the little ones (because it doesn't have the awesome zero depth area like our pool) , we made good use of the baby pool and the girls had a great time.

Check out the bubbles blowing contest they held.

Little fish

It isn't all that often that Dustin is able to join us at the pool, so I thought I would post some pictures of he and Addison.

Dustin is our swimmer. I swam competitively for 8 years so am not what you would call a bad swimmer, but Dustin swam competitively for 16 years (including D1 collegiate swimming) so there is really no comparison. He would love for our girl to be a little fish, as well, and has been spending some time this summer giving her "lessons".

She loves blowing bubbles.

And is a really strong kicker.

I think it's safe to say that at the age of 18 months, our daughter could officially be considered a "pool rat". She just adores the water and would spend all day at the pool, if she could. She always works up quite the appetite after a couple hours of swimming. She immediately asks for "snacks" when we get in the car.

P.S. She is not sun burnt. I coat the fair-skinned child with gobs of sunscreen every time we are outside. Her cheeks get pink when she is active, especially when she is warm. I can't tell you how many people at the pool this year have said "It's probably good you're going home...looks like she's had enough sun today" when we've been packing up. Oh, unsolicited commentors...how I loathe thee!

Pool Days

You'll probably see a fair amount of pool pictures this summer. Mommy and I go swimming as often as we can. The whole way there, I say "swimming" and "pool". The whole way.



Today, a little boy let me borrow his goggles. I don't know what this face is all about but Mommy thought it was funny.


I was climbing in and out of the pool a lot today. I do a pretty good job fending for myself and even went under and came back up a few times by myself today, but Mommy is always just a step away.

Pool and Zoo

Gammy and Poppy (who I now call Gam and Pop) were visiting me for a couple days and I wanted to show them some of the things that Mommy and I have been doing for fun this summer.

First up was the pool. I love love love the pool. I am such a little fish. Mommy and I go whenever the weather is nice enough. We actually have gone a couple times when it hasn't been very warm (high 60's/low 70's) but the pool water is SO warm that it felt like we were taking a bath.

Gam and Pop really liked the pool and couldn't believe how well I swim (blow bubbles, kick my legs and move my arms in a front crawl).


My 3 favorite things to play with at the pool are dive sticks/rings, watering cans, and balls. I was having a lot of fun throwing the ball back and forth with Pop (shadow pictured only).

After the pool, we went home to have lunch and take a nap. Once I woke up, we headed to the zoo. I love the zoo, too...maybe just as much as the pool. I think the animals are so "neat" (a new word Mommy taught me last week when we saw a bunny while riding bikes) and each time I go, I get more interested in learning about them.

By the way, taking a wagon to the zoo is genius. I can see everything around me, can easily hop in and out when I want a closer view, and there is plenty of room for our cargo.

Our first stop was the Manatees. Pop was really excited about them. For a second, Mommy forgot who was the kid in the group - me or Pop!

There were Stingrays (and other fish) in the Manatee tanks. It looks like this one is coming straight for us. Good thing there was glass separating it from us!

Walking with Gam while looking at the fish.

We saw some kangaroos. This one was grazing.

Did you know a group of Kangaroos is called a mob?

The monkeys were one of my favorite stops. Mommy held me up high to get a better view.

It's not in focus, but can you see the baby monkey? How cute!

Everytime the monkey would swing, I would say "swing!"

Then we went to see some bigger monkeys.

They are called gorillas! This guy kept running up and banging on the windows.

He was really big!

I think this guy was sleeping last time I was here, too. Lazy cat.

It must have been snoozing time while we were there, because a lot of animals were sleeping. Including this cute koala bear. I learned that if he had his way, he would sleep up to 22 hours a day!