Vacation Pictures - Pool Edition

We did a lot of swimming on vacation! We stayed in a beautiful condo that was affiliated with the Westin next door so we got to use all their facilities. The kids loved their pool and koi pond.... Avery loved it so much she swam fell in it trying to touch the fish. My favorite part was the plush lounge chairs. I never did get to lay in them longer than 3 minutes but those 3 minutes were heavenly.

Parker continues to not wear his puddle jumper in the pool but stays in the 3 feet section unless he's got 1 on 1 attention in the deeper end. He seems to enjoy the weightless sensation of falling in the water and rarely spends time above the water! He finally mastered diving for his beloved iron man dive sticks!

Avery surprised us this trip by taking her puddle jumper off and swimming! Who knew she could swim?! This made it infinitely more stressful to be around the pool with 2 kids not in puddle jumpers and 1 who isn't really confident in the water yet but we made it work and the kids all had a blast in the pool!

Avery made quite a spectacle at the pool by yelling "up up!" over and over and over again. She wanted to be throw up in the air, flipped, you name it so she could swim back up to the surface only to yell it again and point to the sky. At one point, we may have had the whole pool deck and everyone at the pool bar starring at her. Whoops. I see some competition cheerleading or gymnastics in our future. Her back tuck was seriously impressive. She would come up to the surface still holding her toes. That's commitment right there.

Liam hasn't always been a huge fan of the pool. He much prefers to bat those beautiful blue eyes to fellow pool goers for snacks. While he still didn't LOVE the pool, he tolerated it much better this trip thanks to warmer water and lots of pool toys. He's starting to get the hang of the puddle jumper and preferred floating in it than to sitting in his baby float. Go L!

 Up next.... sandy faces and beach pictures!

Parker the Fish

This sweet boy has become quite the little fish this summer!

Much to my dismay, he has given up swimming with his puddle jumper.... which means I have given up tanning by the side of the pool with a margarita. {tear} Currently I would categorize his swimming as "controlled drowning" but he seems quite pleased with his new skills. He can swim correctly but he sometimes forgets to use his arms or kicks both legs at the same time like a mermaid butterfly kick. It's pretty adorable, actually. 

Parkerman knows he can touch in the "number 3" so he'll find a "3" on the side of the pool and jump in there then swim back to the wall or steps. He also does this little jumpy thing which was my goal for this summer. I wanted him to understand that if he can't touch, to jump and breathe when his face is out of the water. Thankfully, he's mastered this so my stress level at the pool without both kids in flotation devices has dramatically decreased. Avery wants her puddle jumper on before we leave our house most days and I'm PRAYING that we have another summer of that! She's SO short that I don't think the jumping method would work for her!

Parker likes the idea of goggles... especially Iron Man ones but he doesn't like tight things so he basically ends up wearing them around his neck as an accessory instead. It makes me giggle ;) 

We've tried dive sticks but he usually just throws them to older kids and thinks its funny to make them fetch them... then we accidentally leave said $9.99 pack of 3 Iron Man dives sticks at the pool and despite Sharpieing our names on them, we never see them again so I'm the mean mom who has stopped bringing toys to the pool because they never seem to come home with us. {longest sentence ever} Thankfully, the kids have just as much fun without them and spend more time swimming in the pool than playing next to the pool with their toys. It also eliminates the "No mine" meltdowns... so really it's a win/win!

We haven't gotten to the pool as much as we planning to this summer due to the RAIN... and RAIN... and did I mentioned it has RAINED?!  ...Like so much rain that my garden has drown.... literally. Thankfully, the next few days should afford us a few hours of sun each day for some pool fun with friends! These 2 cuties are ready for blue skies and blue water!

It's officially pool season!

It's officially pool season... for my kids that is.... I require a minimum of 10 more degrees before I venture out of ankle deep water. I believe the 1st pool day was 60 degrees and rainy so we held off until it was at least 80. Well, yesterday was 84 according to my car so we loaded up the wagon and headed to the pool. It was cooollllddd but they had a great time splashing around with their buddies. They both played more on the side of the pool than in the pool but both did swim for a bit. I kept to my rule and monitored from the side with a little "mom juice."

Lock up your sons.

Squirt gun fun!

Typical Avery... floating around

I think this picture looks like she's about to do water aerobics. I'm dying over that sweet polka dot Target hat!

Makenna also enjoyed her 1st dip of the season.

Jumping right in!

I think this officially means my summer has started!

Bring on Summer!

Today was a blast! It was the first day that really felt like summer to me. We got up and went to our friend's neighborhood pool. Most of the usual play group was there and it felt like "old times" but with a whole second group of kids! Last year, Avery was the only baby for most of the summer and even then, she slept in the stroller or wagon most of the time we were at the pool. This year.... is VERY different! The 3 year olds are now pretty easy and self sufficient in the water with puddle jumpers which frees up our eyes a bit to be on top of the busy 1 year olds/babies! 

The babies want to be in the baby pool with the fountains and graduated entrance and the 3 year olds want to be in the "big water" as Parker calls it. Thankfully, we all believe it takes a village so we divide and conquer.... and hire teenagers.

Parker and Logan were excited to see one another

Landon and Avery chatting

I actually think with his hat on, they kinda look like twins

The puddle jumper gang

Avery kept her hat on for 1 minute... a new record! I'm aiming for 1:30 next time! haha

Umm... well.... how's that feel Parker?

Sweet boy playing in the fountains

I am SO blessed with these friends. Anna, Amber and Brandi (and many more) have been amazing friends to my kids and I. We LOVE summer days spent at the pool and running through sprinklers in the backyard! Bring on the summer, ripe watermelon and shriveled pool toes!

Summer Sneak Peek

I don't know about you but this mama is SO ready for sunny days by the pool with a margarita, friends and snacks! Today we got a little sneak peek with our friends Holly and Brooklyn. It was warm... certainly not warm enough to swim but Parker didn't seem to mind. Brooklyn would play in the pool and then come back to her chair to dry off a bit then try again. Then there was Avery.... who was everywhere. The pool is too deep for her to sit in and splash but she kept trying anyways unsuccessfully. Eventually I got tired of chasing her around the pool deck and fed her into a coma then laid her in the wagon in the shade. I realize there is only so much longer I can do this but it was SO worth it! I got to really enjoy watching Parker swim while chatting with a friend and Avery got to take a great nap outside in the shade. Win/Win!

As you know, Parker is not a lover of the camera but I think we FINALLY may have figured out how to get a great picture of him! H20!

This wagon and top is worth its weight in gold!

Silly boy!

Look how happy he is despite his blue lips!

Parker LOVES to jump in the water! Jumping pictures are some of my favorites of him!

Floating

Sweet boy is such a fish!

Joy!

What could be more fun!?

hahaha!

Princess girl napping in her chariot

Brooklyn enjoyed gently pouring the water from one cup to the other while Parker just splashed everywhere! Oh the differences between girls and boys!

Are you as ready for summer as we are!?!

Pools, Play dates and Pilates

We had a play date today at our house. I just love getting Parker and my buddies together for casual, care-free play dates. By September, Avery will have 3 new play buddies that we are thrilled to welcome to the group! We started out with the kids in the backyard playing in the pools and ended with lunch and complete destruction of the house. I think every one of Parker's toys got played with today which is great because when we put them back in his bins, they were rotated and its like having a whole bunch of new toys! I love my friends. They held Avery so I could accomplish things, cleaned up toys, helped make lunch, dressed Parker.... they're pretty much awesome and it makes having these big play dates doable. I took a whooping 8 pictures today and didn't even manage to get all of the kids in them nor a single mom.... picture failure. I need to be better about taking pictures of the grown ups too! They just aren't as cute (no offense!) haha. Here's what I got:

Parker and Logan moved the water from one pool to the other...so helpful!

Don't feel too sorry for Avery... I think she only sat in here for 5 minutes! There were plenty of people willing to love on her!

Precious Parker

"The Parker"... its hi's signature move

Brooklyn & Logan

Today while my friends were here, I got these super cute, jcrew shorts in the mail. (I would copy the picture but it isn't saving it as a jpeg... and if it isn't a jpeg... I don't know how to do it!) Basically, they're navy blue and white seersucker shorts with pink anchors embroidered on them. Very Taylor. WELL... I opened them up in front of my friends and we all declared how large they looked and how they'd never fit (flattering, friends!). So, of course, they fit. Major bummer. Of course, I love them and I want them to fit but I want the tag to say the same number is said before getting pregnant with Avery. I've officially hit a plateau on the weight loss and it seems like these last 4 lbs, I'm going to have to actually work off. Bummer, I know. With Parker, 2 weeks and I was back into my clothes. Not so much with baby girl! So now I've officially decided it's time to be active again, eat bunny food (salads), and stop buying Dr. Pepper even though I feel like I NEED it to function. Maybe I'll take up pilates. I hear good things about that in the toning department which is really what I need. Who am I kidding... I'll never stick to that. I basically just need to get off the couch and Baby Bjorn Avery during her "I must be held 24/7 phase" she's currently in. Hopefully, that'll do it. Goal: 1 month from today... I want these shorts to be too big!!!

Nemo and the Little Mermaid

We have a little fish on our hands! Parker has become quite the swimmer. Well... he at least thinks he is. He has NO fear of water which surprises me since he has so many other fears. The neighborhood pool recently upgraded the kiddie pool to have a graduated entrance, mushroom, shooting water and fountains... he could care less. He is a "big pool" swimmer and will only go to the baby pool during adult swim (which he doesn't understand and we are THAT family dragging our kid out of the water crying). He's doing great swimming with the puddle jumper after his splash balls. Parker's FAVORITE thing to do in the pool is jump in.... over and over and over. He gets mad if you don't let him go all of the way under. Once he comes up, he takes a breath and then puts his face back in the water to "swim." It's so cute!

Getting a ride to the other side of the pool from dad

Since she's a red head, we'll call her "The Little Mermaid" for the purpose of making this blog post title cute... but she's actually never been in the water other than the bath (which she loves!) BUT... she looks precious basking in the shade in her strawberry bathing suit and car seat equipped with a fan! Tough Life!

 

 

 When I can't take the kids to the pool, we get out Parker's little crab pool.

Please note the laminated picture of ducks in his hand... they needed to swim too apparently.

This is all he does in it anyways so it's a perfect size!

 We don't discriminate when it comes to places to swim! We went on a boat ride Thursday night without bathing suits... but who needs a swim suit when you're a boy and you desperately want to swim?! Moms, have you ever let your kid swim in a normal diaper? HILARIOUS... they look like snails because the diaper puffs up big like a shell. We got a lot of laughs out of that gigantic diaper that was doing absolutely nothing....other than providing comic relief!

Swimming with poppi

Swimming with ducks! This was the equivalent of swimming with dolphins for Parker. I'm pretty sure his life is now complete. 

Our "Little Mermaid" lives a tough life, as you can see. Yes... her diaper is huge. I ran an errand and forgot to leave my mom a diaper. She pooped and mom improvised... with a size 2 diaper she found of Parker's. Whoops.

We were in the pool again today and are off to the lake in the morning! Parker is going to turn into Nemo by the end of this summer... and hopefully our "Little Mermaid" will actually get to get in the water a bit later this summer when she isn't so new and vulnerable to ickies. Until then, the boys swim and the girls bask in the shade!