2.6.16

Hello, June

Yes, indeed.  It's June.  And, for me, that means one thing and one thing only.  The beach.  Of the four weeks in the month, I'll be spending two of them at the beach.  I honestly didn't plan it that way on purpose and didn't even realize it until not too long ago.  But I'm not complaining one bit.  I can think of no better way to spend the month of June!

I've always loved the month of June.  As a kid growing up, it was always synonymous with the end of school, lazy days at home, skiing on the lake, homemade ice cream, family vacation and swimming in the pool.  A lot of swimming in the pool.  And even now, years later, not much of that last part has changed.

Can one have too many pool pics?  I think not!

Can one have too many floats in the pool?  I think so.  

When we were swimming last week, I realized that we didn't have any floats or pool toys because they all bit the dust at summer's end last year.  So I picked up a few things when we took care of our weekly errands.  But my mother-in-law had the same idea.  Yet and still, nothing is going to waste.

We spent Memorial Day at the pool, too.  One of the kids' favorite summer treats is watermelon.  I actually noticed today that my watermelon is taking over my garden.  There are lots of blooms so we'll see what happens.  At least it's something they all enjoy.

One fish, two fish.  THREE fish?!  The significant thing about this picture is that Ellie is swimming by herself and in the middle of the pool.  (In the deep end, I might add!)

Last summer was a bummer because she wouldn't get off the steps.  That was such a surprise because she was swimming and even jumping off the diving board the summer before.  I didn't push the issue because I didn't want her to become scared of the water.  But as we got ready for this summer, I told her she would have to take swimming lessons if she didn't get off the steps.  Last week I was successful at getting her off the steps, but I had to be right there with her.  She pretty much wouldn't let go.  I did manage to get her to kicking her feet and paddling around a bit, but she wouldn't do it if I wasn't in the pool with her.  She finally got comfortable enough to "swim" the perimeter of the pool by herself, but she wouldn't let go of the side.

While that was a huge improvement over last year, it was still pretty annoying.  On Monday she didn't want to get off the steps because I wasn't in the pool.  So I did what every loving mother would do.  I picked her up and threw her in.  Yes, I did.  She tried to scream and act like she was unhappy, but she didn't fool me.  She was absolutely fine.  She puttered around a bit.  Awhile later she asked for a popsicle.  I told her she could have one only if she jumped off the side of the pool.  And, of course, she threw a fit.  So I did what every other mother would do in that situation.  I threw her in.  Again.  Yes, I threw her into the pool twice.  And you know what?  Next thing I knew, she was out in the middle of the deep end swimming around all by herself.

Just wait.  I'm going to have her jumping off the diving board again before too long!

Happy swimming and happy summer!