Laurel

Swimming buddies

Emily, Spencer and Haley are all taking swimming lessons right now. Emily is in level 3, Spencer in level 2, and Haley in level 1. Spencer and Emily would both rather stay home than go to swimming lessons because they are in classes that challenge them and force them to swim alone and to go underwater. They are both making great progress and learning a lot. They are learning that learning new things isn't always comfortable or easy. Haley on the other hand somehow convinced the teachers that she needed to be in level one (which isn't accurate in my opinion) so she thinks swimming is great fun because all she has to do is sit on the steps and kick and swim around in a noodle. I'm pretty sure they are all actually having fun even though the other two complain a bit.

Fourth of July

We tried to keep up with our annual fourth of July activities this year (parade and fireworks) but despite our best efforts it just wasn't quite the same in Santa Monica as it was in Lincoln. The parade was so boring I could barely get through it, and it was so different in liberal Santa Monica than it is in super conservative Lincoln. Example: In Lincoln the residents politely abstain from clapping when the democrat officials cars pass. In Santa Monica the occupy movement people were smoking pot as they walked down the street and I'm pretty sure there weren't any republicans in the parade at all. Not that I care which officials are in the parade...just an example. Then that night we went to the Marina for fireworks, but the display ended up being mostly blocked by the smoke that was trapped under the low level marine layer. We had fun anyway eating ice cream, throwing pop-its, and watching the sea lions on the docks. The kids weren't feeling much like posing for pictures (when are they ever right?) but they got really into making funny faces.

Day at the beach

Of course a visit from out of town family can't go by without a trip (or two) to the beach. The kids did great and had a blast digging up tons of sand crabs and eating sprinkles cupcakes. Yummy. Afterwards the kids had a bit of fun with the camera in the car. They must have been doing it while I was putting away the gear and stroller because I didn't know that these pictures were on the camera until later.

California Science Center

Natural History Museum

Two weeks after Laurel was born my sister Lindsey was able to come stay with us for a week. We had a fun (and exhausting) time showing her the sites of our city. We were even brave enough to take the light rail train one day. That was an adventure in and of itself. Getting that many kids off a train before the doors start to close is tough!