Go Piranhas!

This summer, Henry joined our neighborhood swim team, the Princeton Lake Piranhas. He was the youngest swimmer in the under 6 boys group. At his first practice, he didn't know any of the strokes, and he sunk like a rock when he jumped in the deep end. But after daily 8AM practices for 6 weeks, he could jump off the starting block in the deep end and swim 25 meters of freestyle all on his own. Proud of our Piranha!

There he goes!

Within two weeks, Peter went from not walking to walking to running. I don't like that he wants to be held less. But I do love the sound of his chubby, baby feet slapping the floor as he runs after his brothers.

My loud and crazy boys.

I have three little boys, and I am pregnant. When we are in public, people talk to me.

"Wow! You've got your hands full!"
"Three boys?!? Bless your heart."
"I bet your house is loud and crazy!"

And sometimes it is. But often it's like this.

Go Braves!

Last weekend we went to a Braves game with the Phillips family. It was Henry's 2nd Braves game and John's 1st Braves game. Since it was a night game, Peter stayed home with a sitter and played the bedtime game. Henry, John, and Luke held hands from the moment we entered Turner Field. And Abby received a lot of attention from Henry and John. They liked practicing with a little sister. The kids ate their way through the first few innings - hotdogs, pizza, popcorn, cracker jacks, snow cones, and ice cream. Then they danced and tomahawk-chopped their way through the 6th inning. By that time, we were already 3 hours past bedtime so we called it a night.

Makris Movie Night

We finally watched the movie "Frozen" to see what the hype was all about. You know you are the last ones to watch a hit movie when you rent your copy from the public library (for free!). For Henry, once was enough.  For John and Peter, zero was enough.  They decided to wrassle instead.

John the Fish

John has been taking swim lessons with Ms. Vicki at our gym. Ms. Vicki gave Henry lessons when he was 3 and 4, and now at 5 he can swim the length of the pool. I hope John follows in his big brother's footsteps. John's favorite thing to do during swim lessons is to jump in and go under, which is funny considering how much he hated getting his face wet during his first lesson. He also uses his height to his advantage, telling Ms. Vicki, "I don't have to do little kicks because I can touch the bottom. I will just walk across the pool."

Ding Ding Ding!

Henry and John enjoyed their first visit with the ice cream man last week. It's a miracle we have lasted this long, as he drives through our neighborhood twice a day. The bells started ringing just as we were leaving Henry's swim team practice. It was way too close to dinner time, but just this once I said "yes" to ice cream before dinner. And it made their day.

Walk with me.

Peter decided to start walking all by himself this week. It makes me a little sad to think he won't be holding our hands as much anymore. For awhile he would only walk with one of us. And watching Henry take Peter for a walk is just about the cutest thing you'll ever see.

Waves and Waffles

We spent last week at the beach in Destin, Florida with Nanna and Pa. The toughest question we had to answer each day was "beach or pool?" We had some windy weather, so the ocean was rough and very wavy. We spent some time jumping in the waves each day, but the boys did most of their swimming in the pool. Henry conquered his fear of the deep end by the end of the week. John's favorite thing to do was "countdown and blast off" into the pool. And Peter spent most of his pool time in a lounge chair with snacks. I get it, Peter.

One overcast morning, Nanna and I took Henry and John to the Gulfarium. The boys saw dolphins, sharks, turtles, fish, penguins, and sea lions. Nanna and Pa know how much the boys love wildlife so they got the boys their very own beach pets - hermit crabs. Supercrab and Batman were great pets for the week. But they stayed at the beach.

We ate dinner in the Harbor one night. Peter tried his first sautéed crab claw and then ate $14 worth. Henry and John were more interested in the boats. Pa told them he would take them on a boat and he was true to his word. We spent the next morning boating around the channel. We anchored and enjoyed lunch on the beach. The boys were as happy as Skipper and Gilligan.

Henry kept seeing "Waffle House" signs during our road trip and beach visit, so he asked if we could go there for dinner on our last night. I'm embarrassed to say we've never taken the boys to Waffle House. The boys experienced it all - they wore the hats, they climbed up to the breakfast bar and watched the cook on the line, and they ate every bite of their waffles. What a delicious way to end our wonderful week at the beach!