Swim Lessons

We had swim lessons for the past two weeks.  Our local pool does a great job with these and the kids enjoy them a lot.  Timmy passed level 1 last year but was barely putting his head under at the end of lessons.  He had the same teacher this year and she was shocked how much more comfortable he was.  

Of course he loved going off the diving board and he got quite good at not needing any lifeguard help with that.

He ended up passing Level 2!

This little monkey had to hang out with me during lessons.  Some days I kept him contained in the stroller and other days I kept him in the fence in baby pool area.  Nothing is easy with a toddler, but all in all he did well!

Lucy is/was as scared of water as Timmy...she was doing her second year in Level 1.  By the end of week 1 she still didn't want to put her face under water.  My good friend Jan practiced with her and was able to get her that over that fear.  And by the end of week 2 she was doing this!

She still didn't want to do the diving board but I am proud of her for going under and learning to swim.  

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Vacation Part 3: Texas

Time for the last installment of the vacation entries.   We spent the last bit of our time in Texas with the goals being to spend time with friends and eat at all of our favorite restaurants.  It has been 11 years since we loved in Austin...so we didn't know how our old faves would hold up.  With each restaurant stop Timmy would ask if the place was famous.

Our first stop was In n Out in Dallas (on our drive down).  Timmy got carsick as soon as we walked in the door. Although it is a favorite of his and mine it was a little hard to enjoy. We gave him some Dramamine and he did better for the duration of the drive and got to enjoy Bill Miller that night.  They have our fave fried chicken...it was disappointing to us but Timmy loved it.  

I did really well getting us hotels on Priceline for the trip.  Here we stayed at Holiday Inn Express...which had a great breakfast and a fun little pool.

I took Lucy shopping at Sam Moon, a giant stor full of jewelry and purses.  

 

We picked up Iron Works BBQ for lunch on our way to visit friends.  It was a major disappontment! After lunch we headed to San Antonio to see the Alamo, Riverwalk, and. More friends.

Early the next day we took the kids to tour the new Concordia TX campus.  It is beautiful!  We won't talk about how depressing it was to drive by the old campus though.  Breakfast for the adults was yummy Taco Cabana breakfast tacos.  every time I have one of those it takes me back to student teaching and treating myself to those once a week.  We had Freebirds burritos for lunch (awesome as always) topped off with coffee from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  That and in n out are new transplants from California, no complaints from this pregnant lady!

We finished our eating tour off having dinner with Kristin at Trudy's.  That was our favorite place in college to have nachos and a good margarita (or beer in Ben's case).  We had the same nachos and they were fabulous, but obviously no margarita for me.  

We did enjoy brownies together though....

We tried to wait for the bats to come out, but it was getting too late and Coop was cranky so we gave up after awhile.  I will have to YouTube it for the older two to watch.

The past two days have consisted of all driving, we are ready to be home!  We had a blast going to some of our favorite places and seeing so many dear friends.  Now it is on to normal summer activities....church picnic, swim lessons, baseball, etc!

Vacation part two: Oklahoma

Oklahoma was wonderful, everything that we remembered and loved about that area still holds true!  We were blessed to stay in a huge room with beds for all of us at the West house.  I call the room the hunting lodge, not sure if I got that from them or not.  The first thing we did when we got to town was stop by the church and visit Pastor Henke.  Seeing him and getting to spend some time with him was a big part of this vacation!

Cooper Thought it was fabulous to snuggle with Timmy, he definitely did not sleep there though!

The older kids got to help Tim train one of his labs for field trials, he was a gracious and patient teacher.  I did not get a picture, but I know it is a memory that will not soon be forgotten by them!  They have a large pond so they were also able to fish!  We became increasingly aware of Lucy's love of the outdoors on this trip!  

Both kids caught four fish!  Gotta love an easy fishing hole to help them see the fun in it.  While fishing Lucy declared this is "the best day ever.". Timmy also commented that he is a good fisherman but is better at being a "fisher of man". I love when my kids get to experience something new or out our normal routine!

It was 60 on Friday and then 90 on Saturday, we decided to give the pool a whirl!  It was cold, but that didn't stop us, just made the swim a little shorter.

If you have been around Lucy and dogs, you know she is not at all a fan.  She really warmed up to their dogs...this picture was taken last night.  Nancy caught Lucy standing and petting Idgy and even had her face resting on her...it knocked my socks off?  They had one dog that was skid dish with th kids, we think that may have helped Lu.  Seeing a dog be afraid of her and having it pointed out by Nancy.

We are so blessed to have friends all over the country, it happens that way in this ministry.  It is truly wonderful to be able to reconnect with them!  

A stop at Pops

We stayed with friends in Oklahoma.  Last time we were there I used an abandoned gas station to know where to turn.  This time it had been completely rebuilt into a fun destination!  The highway is part of Route 66 and this place fits the route 66 idea perfectly!  It is called Pops and it's main feature is they sell over 600 different sodas.  They also sell food and gas.  It has a giant soda bottle sculpture out front that is at least 40 feet tall and lit up with colors at night.  We thought it would be fun to add a trip there to our itinerary and try out some different sodas.

Timmy picked out a cherry (his favorite flavor) to try.  We agreed it was pretty yummy!

I picked all weird favors, just to have fun with it...this is to show our Illinois friends.  Farmers...you don't need to make sweet corn soda, it is bad!  Tasted like corn puffs in a soda.

Peanut butter was another flavor chosen by me and was by far the worst.

You can't see the bottle for this one, it is chocolate.  No one liked it except Cooper, we let him have it!

Lucy and daddy love root beer, so of course Daddy's choice was a hit.

The last flavor we tried was blueberry and it was great, not like I want to have it every day great, but I would definitely have it again!

Here is a shot of the kids out in front of the building, great architecture!

This was a fun place to visit and if you are ever on the road near Edmond or Arcadia OK and need a unique stop, this will do it for ya!