Adventures in La La Land

1. Finally, summer has arrived!!! We spent lots of time at the pool this week. Lena is really getting the hang of swimming, Lucy's been working on her dive, and Levi has mastered going underwater without gagging, crying, and rushing to wipe his face on his towel! (The girls still have yet to master that. They only go under with goggles.) All week, Lena has been working up the courage to jump off the diving board (wearing a life jacket). She jumps off the side and bobs under the water numerous times every day, but the diving board was so daunting. She's my anxious child who has to be talked through all the scenarios: "How far down will I go?" "Will I hit the bottom?" "How fast will I come back up?" "Will I like it?" I was sooooo tempted to push her off the board because I knew she'd like it once she tried it. But, having been an anxious child myself, I know that will only destroy her trust in me. Today, I finally asked if she wanted to...

1. We did it! After months of planning, we had a successful week of VBS! I think I found my sweet spot as the Director of Crafts (a title I made up and bestowed upon myself). My forte is planning and prepping, but not necessarily executing (which is why I'm a bad homeschool mom). I spent months looking up ideas, testing them out, refining them, and figuring out how to get the supplies in the most cost effective manner. Then I spent weeks cutting things out and organizing supplies. Finally, I assembled an extremely talented group of volunteers to help me do the craft with the kids every day. And because I had done lots of work ahead of time, the week of VBS itself was pretty low-stress for me! Don't get me wrong. I'm not used to getting up that early so I definitely took a nap every afternoon, but it was one of the easiest VBS experiences I've had. And my kids enjoyed it for the most part. Lena was a good sport. Lucy was done by Thursday. Levi came down with a fever on...

1. Is it just me or has this been an exceptionally cool and rainy June? We only went to the pool one day this week because it was rainy and cold the rest of the week! How am I going to get fit if I can't walk to the pool and swim every day?? (That's not a real question. Don't give me ideas. Unless it's "fit-ting" a whole pizza in my mouth.) Poor Lena does not have an ounce of body fat, so she gets cold much faster than Lucy and Levi. While those two swam, she did a lovely pool-side gymnastics show for me. Lol nerds 2. On Tuesday, we went on a "field trip" with our homeschool friends to Boulder Ridge zoo. We've never been there before but had heard great things about it. It was kind of a hike, and in the middle of nowhere, but it was really cool! And we had beautiful weather! I loved  the giraffes. I could've watched them all day. I didn't even think these were real until I saw them move.  Levi was obsessed with th...