Summer Swimming

We've enjoyed going to the outdoor pool off and on over the last few months (when it hasn't been raining... we've had record amounts of rain this summer). I still have my hands full with these two because Eli thinks he's invincible and swims too deep while Charlie doesn't want to be as deep and goes off in another direction. The city pools don't allow you to use flotation devices, so I really have to be careful and try to keep an eye on both kids. Next year will be easier when they are both swimming more independently.

They love pool toys like these dive sticks and we've managed not to lose them all (at least so far).

Busy Nutty Week and Swimming Lessons

I feel like life has ramped up about ten notches than its usual pace! The thought of uploading a bajillion vacation pictures and writing about them is still giving me anxiety, so I'm starting small with catching up on blog posts. I feel like a broken record.

This week's highlights included:

-Playing super spies with Eli and Charlie. Eli is so into pretending and imaginative play and it's hilarious watching Charlie play along with him.

-Listening to Charlie's vocabulary improve. It's amazing the things he understands and communicates now. He is even getting to the point of reasoning - the other day he was crying about something and I said, "Charlie, if you keep crying I am going to put you up in your crib. I'm going to count to three, and if I get to three and you're still crying, we're going upstairs. One, two..." and immediately he stopped crying and snapped out of his tantrum. I felt like angels were singing, it was such a glorious moment. He gets it.

-Three newborn photography sessions this week and getting positive feedback from a recent extended family session that I worked very hard on (it's so rewarding once it's all done to know that the family is really happy with it - it had been a super sunny session so the light was tricky and the editing took longer than usual). 

-Photographing another birth, this time at the hospital in the middle of the night. (Boy am I sleep deprived now - I basically slept for two hours last night).


-Tutoring session today with a client who wanted to learn how to get stop using the auto setting on her DSLR camera and learn manual settings. It was so fun and I think I'll try to do more of this. The best part is that once the tutoring session is over, it's OVER! I'm up to my eyeballs in photo editing and this added some nice variety.

This week's lowlight has definitely been work stress on Ben's end. The ups and downs of the stock market have made the last week extremely stressful. We're praying for things to calm down a little. Ugh.

The second lowlight is not having time to run to the grocery store because things have been so busy. I've had to get creative with what we've had for dinner since our fridge is almost completely empty. I will admit to personally eating peanut butter puffins cereal for dinner two nights this week. I am vowing to make balanced, nutritious, delicious meals next week. And to get more sleep. And catch up and not feeling like a crazy woman. To find balance. And no, I'm not pregnant. Didn't want to give you any ideas with my weird eating or spacey brain in the next lowlight.

-The last lowlight was completely spacing that the boys had swimming lessons on Monday and not realizing it until that night when I looked at my calendar to get ready for the next day. We used to do lessons on Fridays and I'm still adjusting to the different schedule. I was so mad at my silly head for forgetting something like that, especially since we're paying for both kids in that class.

Here are some pictures from swimming lessons two weeks ago when I actually remembered their lesson. :) The kids in the class range from 2 1/2 to 5 years old, but their teacher Angie handles it really well. I have to laugh at how tiny Charlie looks standing there with the other kids.

So we are finally to the point where I don't have to go in the water with Charlie during lessons (now he's less crazy/better about following directions), so it's a treat to be able to sit on the side and watch (and take pictures!). We had one scary moment though last week when he was holding on to the side and his hands slipped, so he dipped under water, and in that split second when I realized what was happening and jumped out of my chair to go grab him (and my heart sank), he somehow got his face up enough and reached up for the wall. I was so proud of him and feel like this is why we do lessons - he understands to reach for the wall!



There is nothing cuter than watching your two-year-old learn how to swim backstroke. He's not really close to doing it on his own, but he's learning the steps and getting the hang of floating on his back.





Charlie always swims with the green goggles, and Eli has these blue goggles. He's getting better about floating and swimming on his own for short distances, which is great!


Back to Charlie again. Love these cute little swimmers :)

Backpacking in Yosemite

Things that make my husband happy:

Being outside

Fishing

Swimming

Hiking around

Getting a break from stresses of life

I would say Ben's backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne in Yosemite National Park provided all of that and more. Here are some pictures from his trip (I am SO glad he's home!!):

Ben's youngest brother, Paul with their dad, Larry

Ben sporting the lovely hiking backpack I used 11 years ago on a canoe trip through Minnesota's Boundary Waters. I am pretty sure his gear was the most ancient, but that's okay. I think his pack weighed 42 pounds.

Pretty scenery in Yosemite!

Larry with Ben's brother Joe and wife Cami. She was the only girl on the trip - brave woman!

Reeves (Ben's brother Matt's 10-yr-old nephew), Matt, Paul, J.D., Alan (JD and Alan are cousins' husbands), and Larry. There were 9 total in their group.

Ben and the others caught a lot of fish on this trip.

Highlights from the Severson Reunion

Above: Eli and his cute cousins (he has 17 cousins on Ben's side - two weren't here)

We had a smaller (if you can call a group of 31 people small), immediate family reunion with Ben's parents, kids and grandkids, all staying at his brother Joe and wife Cami's house in a suburb outside of Portland. There were people sleeping in all corners of their beautiful home, but Ben, Eli and I were lucky enough to sleep in the guest room! It was great.

Above: the first picture is a great example of how our trip started (Eli crying on the moving walkway). The other three pictures were taken on the way home - he was in a MUCH better mood and even slept for about 2 1/2 hours - it made such a difference, especially since I was dreading that return flight...

Above: we went on a beautiful hike near Portland (Cami, what is the name of this place again?) and saw some pretty waterfalls. Eli had a great time throwing rocks with his cousin Kaelan, who is 2 weeks older and has an amazing overhand throw already!

Above: On Saturday, we went to this great park near Joe and Cami's house that had fields, tennis courts, a big playground, and a fun water play area. Eli loved running through the splashes of water!

Above: Here we are at the big Severson reunion. We rented a camp at the base of Mt. Hood. The setting was beautiful! This was my fourth reunion with the family and all have been at this location. This time was the biggest though - with 119 total! The family really amazes me with how well they interact with each other, even when they get competitive (there were some fierce games of volleyball). Picture 1 - Ben's wearing his team's flag, playing family feud (they surveyed the family on various Severson questions before the reunion). Picture 2 - Ben swimming with Eli. Pictures 3 & 4 - Eli's molars are still trying to come through and he was SO drooly the entire time - you can see how wet his shirt would get in these pics.

Above: Picture 1 - Eli sitting with his great-grandparents, Frances and Floyd. They were all decked out for the holiday! Picture 2 - the cabin where we slept had a big ramp in the front that Eli loved walking up and down. He was pretty unsteady at first, but by the end of the week, he was cruising up and down that ramp pretty fast. We think his walking skills greatly improved on this trip. Pictures 3 and 4 - Eli was so happy being outside so much!

Some other comments on the trip...

• The food was TERRIBLE. I was seriously starving on those days we stayed at the camp. The camp's cook was not impressive and I actually woke up one morning after dreaming about eating lots of delicious foods. I survived on crackers and snack foods that I picked up at a nearby convenience store. The cabin we were sleeping in was not the cleanest either, but we survived! I preferred this over tent camping w/out a real bathroom for a week.
  
  
• Ben and his cousin tied for first in the big Severson pinochle tournament! It was impressive. But it also kept him out late a few of the nights... that and late-night volleyball
  
  
• It was really wonderful to get away from the stresses of life, be in a pretty setting surrounded by huge trees. I tried to put the housing craziness in the back of my mind and enjoyed spending quality time with Ben and Eli and the zillions of Seversons. Now I'm back to the realization that we still don't know where we'll live in 7 weeks! No worries, right? :)

Below are some short video clips from the week - the first is Eli showing off/banging his head on the velour chair in our cabin's sitting area. The next two are Eli in the water play area at the park (they show off Eli's cute waddle when he walks), and the last one is a video of Eli and Kaelan throwing rocks in the river. It's funny to see the differences in their throws :)

Enjoying a Friend's Backyard

It's always a treat when we go to a friend's house with a backyard! We went to Rebekeh's house yesterday and her husband was kind enough to fill their baby pool with warm water. I did not come prepared with a swimsuit, but we borrowed a swim diaper and Eli was in heaven!

Eli loved their selection of outdoor toys too.

He had a few scary moments where his slippery bum slid forward off the seat (and his chin was stuck on the steering wheel, very sad), but for the most part he really enjoyed this car.

He went back in the pool a few times, so I just left him in his swim diaper the whole time. He looked pretty funny in shoes, diaper, and hat.

He loved beeping the horn on this tractor too.