On August 4th Rubix took the plunge and decided he could swim without help. It was really cool to see the progression. He was trying to swim underneath a floatie, before I knew it, he went from me holding on with 2 hands to one hand to no hands! Here he is swimming back and forth to Daddy and Axel.
Here he is jumping into the water independently. Fast forward a week later he is now jumping off the edge of the pool with his arms overhead doing a full on belly flop, trying to dive head first, like his two older siblings.
Axel and Phoenix did a music camp for their last camp of the summer. It ended up being a guitar camp. On Friday August 9th they invited parents to come and watch each child perform a song they learned.
Phoenix chose Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Axel chose to play Bingo.
I was home with the kids most of the last week in July. We went mini golfing which was a blast! I was so proud of how they all followed the rules (for the most part). Phoenix is quite the little athlete. Everything she does she is good at. She had quite a few hole in ones and 2 stroke holes. Axel is a good sport and has fun just trying his best. Rubix took most of the 18 holes to learn how to hold the club and "putt" rather than swing the club. He really enjoyed it and talked about going golfing for over a week after every day.
Having children 3, 4 and 7 years apart doesn't always make for liking the same things or playing well together. Every now and then all 3 play together well. Here was one of the occasions where they were playing well together.
Here is another moment where they were laughing running through the sprinklers at the park.
And yet another moment where they were doing a search and find activity together in the Highlights magazine that Gma Sonia and Gpa Bruce so kindly get for the kids every year.
With all of the time at home this summer the kids have done a LOT of reading. Here they are with their free book for completing their summer reading program at the public library. They also did their school summer reading program and they will receive a pin for reading more than 5 books. Phoenix gave some resistance initially to reading chapter books, but now she is unstoppable. Rubix continues to love books too. He chose a Pete the Cat Goes book.
Here is a picture of the kids listening to me to please put their books away and walk to the car. Sometimes, it is hard to enforce rules when I am secretly happy how much they love to read. :)
I noticed all three kids chose to wear tie dye on our way home from music camp so tried to capture a picture. I think it is really funny how Axel's love for tie dye rubbed off on the other two. Little Grammy really had an affect on Rubix appreciating and now asking to wear his tie dye shirt that she purchased for him.
When Phoenix finished Kindergarten she was given two sunflower seeds. Now with school being two weeks out the one sunflower that made it is over 5 and a half feet tall. We keep waiting and anticipating the arrival of the actual flower.
Owls seem to be a family favorite. Here is a picture of Rubix drawing his first owl. He was not as happy with his finished product so he asked Phoenix to draw an owl.
She ended up drawing an owl family. We have been really working hard at helping Phoenix thrive in being nice and sweet. I would say she is being more sweet than not these days. This was one of the very precious moments where she willing did something nice for her little brother without being asked. I love the person she is learning to become.
We have hit the August heat wave. It is hot, hot, hot. Here the little ones and I washed the car while Axel and Daddy were doing their weekend swim workout. The washing turned into a fun throwing game.
I am not sure who thought of throwing the sponges at the car, but the car was washed and rinsed a total of three times. The bench and the bikes were also washed.
Keith has been helping in our desire to fix all of the things that needed repair. The wash machine really didn't need repair but the drum seal thing was in a disgusting state with all of the poopie diapers we washed over the past 9 years. He graciously took the wash machine apart and replaced the part for me. He has also fixed the shower doors. They aren't completely stable because the parts are no longer made and he had to make shift wheels and parts, but the shower door is now attached and can open and close with one wheel working on the bottom of each door. We also have new screen doors that will be installed. Next we need to fix the screens in most of the windows with either new screens or frames. Eventually we will come up with a solution for our bedroom closet doors and our peeling kitchen cabinets, but for now I am very happy with the repairs we have done so far and most things in the house working now.
This is my last week off for the summer. I will be taking 4 kids to the pool today. Axel, Kristin, Phoenix and Saif. Rubix is at Angela's. Axel had a sleep over at a friend's house this past weekend and he has another tomorrow at his friend Joel's house and another at our house with good old Rishaan on Saturday. We have lots of other activities coming up and our weekends and days are full. I am so grateful for all that we have. Until next time....
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