4th of July Happenings

We stayed in town for the 4th. We were going to have a cookout, but with Doug's hand I was not sure I could handle all of the prep on my own, so we called it off and just had family fun, which was so much fun!!!! Our little town has a parade called Stars, Stripes, and Squirt guns! The participants and spectators squirt water guns at each other. It was sooooooooooo much fun. The kids had a blast. The M's are moving here also and so they came up for the parade and then we all went over to the farm house that they bought and are remodeling to move into the next few weeks. All of us then went to the fireworks. A storm came, so we viewed the fireworks from our van. The noise was not loud from where we were, but it totally freaked Sarah. I am wondering if the light flashes bother her. It took me a bit to calm her. I was so sorry that I even tried it with her, but I did not know that it was going to bother her so much. Part of the problem was that she was way past her bedtime and she was tired. Elijah wanted us all to dress alike so we got matching shirts and wore blue jean shorts. My camera decided that it wanted new batteries once we got to the parade, so I only got one picture. Guess I need to keep spare batteries on hand!!!

Swimming Graduation

The kids really loved their swimming lessons. Elijah is starting to swim on his own. He has really improved this year. Sarah is so unafraid of the water. She now knows how to hold her breath and kick to get back to the surface if she does fall in. She is also beginning to use her hands and legs to propel herself. I still do not think she has the strength to get back to the surface and get her head up. We have tried numerous life vest/suits, etc to find one that helps keep her head up if she goes under. The infant ones bring her up, but does not get her over on her back, so her face stays under. If you know of a good one that we can try let me know. Our swimming instructor tried all of the vest she has and still did not find one. I am going to ask the Down syndrome association to see if they have suggestions.

Rock city/Ruby Falls

A few weekends ago we went to Chattanooga for a baby shower. We were able to visit with our extended family and had a great time. At the last minute, Pop-pop and Karen came up from Atlanta to visit with us the next day. We decided to go to Rock City and Ruby Falls. The kids had a blast. I think both kids liked Ruby Falls the best. Elijah because he is all into caves and exploring. Sarah because it was cooler and had tons of water at the end!!! She is all about the water these days!

Scheduled posting not working

For some reason the scheduling function in blogger is not working. I will post another post later today and schedule a few more, but it might be when we get back and I can actually manually post them before you can see them. I will try!!!

Cook-out with friends

We have had several cook-outs with friends. I only thought to take pictures at one. We built a fire in the back yard and the kids roasted their hotdogs( a few got away, but the dog was happy to gobble up any that fell off the stick!!!). After supper we played for a bit then roasted marshmallows for smores. YUMMY!!!! Before supper the kids went stomping in the creek. Several, including Sarah, were soaked!!! I was amazed at how wet kids could get with so little water!!! We have had a great summer enjoying the great outdoors God created for us. Sarah and P enjoying a book:
Sarah ready to roast her marshmallows!!!
Enjoying the fun:

Country living

Man, living in the country is more time consuming. Sorry I have been a bad blogger, but between housework, yard mowing(6 acres), swimming lessons, and helping a friend paint her new home, I have not had time to blog. I am going to try to do better. We are going to be out of town for a few days later this week, so I am going to try to schedule some later post for you to catch up on us while we are gone and then when we get back I will have new things to share. Here is a picture for today. These pictures are the kids enjoying a cupcake after Elijah finished his first set of swimming lessons.

Swimming lessons

Since both kids will be graduating from swimming lessons tomorrow, guess I need to share pictures from Elijah's first set of lessons 2 weeks ago!!! He has done wonderful. He started the preschool lessons this year. Mom and Dad are not allowed to watch. There are 3 levels to the preschool lessons. He completed 2 levels his first session!!!!! He is almost swimming. He just needs to learn to put his head up and take a breath and just not stop everything!! He will get it soon, I hope.