jumping waves...

First of all maybe you all are wondering "why does Nick write most of the blogs?". I'll tell you, I take FOREVER to type out my thoughts even now, I have taken 20 minutes to figure this much out and to be perfectly honest I bet another hour is before me. Plus Nick does such a good job at telling it like it is and he is transparent enough for the both of us:). Today however, I have something worth the time.

We jumped waves, all kinds of waves, metaphoric ones and real ones too! It all started with a Memorial Day trip to Tucson to see my Aunt Janice. Miss S and Little C swam in the big pool (based on their reaction I think this was a first) and did really well! I casually snuck in a swimming lesson for Miss S and she did pretty good; kicks, face under the water, and an attempted back float. Little C did a motor boat really fast with a little dunk under water (which he did not care for). That Sunday a good friend of ours mentioned that she teaches swim lessons. Bring her by on Monday she said and we did! Miss S did amazing! Fortunately Miss S is a sponge and in four days she learned superman kicks, jumping off the diving board, big arms, and head under water with NO goggles.

Meanwhile we were going to give up on Little C staying in his own bed and went in search of a crib. Nick sent out a mass email in search of a used crib...nothing seemed to come together. God is good because He knew a wave was about to hit. In the evenings following the email Little C remained in his own bed all night long. Persistence really does pay off!

Our next wave was going to be a big one. I was going to help out at our church's summer camp over in California like I do every summer. The big question was, what do we do with the kids? Should Nick keep them while I go (and risk finding a husband with gray hair or no hair at all) or should I take them with me (and risk my own sanity)? Call me crazy but we decided I should take them. They would have childcare support and be in good hands (my mom decided to go with us). Let me just take a moment to say that moms are amazing and if it wasn't for her coming with us I would have gone literally insane. 8 hour long roadtrips should not be attempted by the faint at heart I decided. I let Miss S know that there was ONE main rule on any roadtrip. She was never to ask the question "are we there yet?" and if she did she would get 30 minutes of quiet time. We had two episodes of quiet time, one on the way there and one on the way back; yes, she absolutely hated them but two times in 16 hours is not bad. My mom and I came to the table prepared with games and treats galore and, thanks to a dear friend, movie watching on a travel DVD player! What waited on the end of a long roadtrip was the ocean! As we neared the ocean she hollered out "someone cover my head". How weird I thought and then she said "I don't want to see it until it is right in front of me". She is a romantic I thought; she wanted to see the ocean for the first time as perfectly as she could. Meanwhile we learned that when you give a 2 year old a piece of lunch meat and he doesn't chew it up all the way it will be seen again. Little C was tired of the car and now had puke all down his chest. FUN! So here we are after 8 long hours of driving, sitting, singing, playing, and eating on the top of a hill looking out over the ocean with a smelly toddler and a romantic 7 year old. "Look Miss S" we proclaimed...as she yelled out WOW! We quickly proceeded to head down to the beach. Miss S and I headed for the water and had a blast. My mom had Little C and they watched us from the shore (little C wasn't too sure of the whole thing). That day a beach lover was born and it was totally worth the insanity of a roadtrip with two kids! That day we jumped real waves!
TO BE CONTINUED...