Why We Take Swimming Lessons

My Grandma has a definite opinion about water. It goes something like this, "DON'T go near the water until you've learned how to swim!" Unfortunately, it just doesn't work very well in that order. Grandma eventually came around to the idea of swimming and even took swimming lessons in her 70th decade and participated in water aerobics well into her 80th!

Swimming lessons have become a looked-forward-to non-negotiable portion of the summer for us.  Our town offers a swwweeetttt deal on swimming lessons. For a mere $5 per child, each child receives two weeks (45 min per day) of lessons given by an experienced group of lifeguards under the management of Mrs. Mary Jo.

Mrs. Mary Jo, mother of three grown kids herself, has been teaching Wright kids to swim for many years now and she's quite good at it.  We look forward to getting reacquainted with her each year as we head to the pool for the first day of lessons.

On day one, each of the big kids gets into the pool for their evaluation and is subsequently assigned to either the 9:00 or the 10:00 class. The better they do-- the earlier the class. I, a lover of my pillow on sunny summer mornings, secretly hope that they will sink like little bricks (just for a minute of course) and qualify for the later class. Usually, however, there is one kid in my gang who refuses to sink.

This one, I like to call her Miss NINE O'Clock...

Her brother was Mr. Nine O'Clock this year, but he was Nine O'Clocking it across town at a strength camp at the YMCA. It was his first year not in lessons with the rest of the kids.

This child...

was Miss TEN o'clock and won The Wright Kids' Award for "Most Improved Fish"!

Molly, may have had the most difficult task this year. 

Lessons for her age group were at 11:00 which meant that she had to wait...

...and wait...

...and wait...

...through two hours of the other girls' lessons before her's began.

The 11:00 class is for three year olds, but Molly participated last year as well. The catch with the little ones' class is that an adult must be in the water with them. I begrudgingly entered icy water last year so that Molly could begin her swimming career AND I also braved the very chilly water a few years earlier when Kate was in the little class and I was EIGHT months pregnant with Molly. The water level of the pool actually rose when I got in!! No kidding.

This year, I made other arrangements.  

Meet Rebekah...

Rebecca, oldest of four children, knew better than to be terribly charmed by Molly and therefore, lessons were quite a success.

(click picture to enlarge...)

Between Rebekah and Mrs. Mary Jo, Molly learned one of the most important lessons taught in the three-year-old class...

close your mouth before jumping into the water.

This lesson would help Molly later in the summer when I (the one who skipped lessons this year) lost my  grip on Molly in a large jet-propelled portion of a pool at the bottom of a water slide. (Cole who was standing nearby scooped her up quickly and the drama was kept to a bare minimum.)

Meg and Kate also learned lots this year...

(again, click to enlarge...)

During the two weeks of lessons, there were mornings when we struggled to get our lazy summer selves out of bed and to the pool by 9:00 am. There were mornings when I tried to convince myself that surely last year's lessons were sufficient to get us through this summer. 

Yet, each morning, we continued to haul our buggies to the pool and get into the turn-your-lips-purple water and each day after lessons were completed we felt pretty accomplished. (AND this was the first year in many that I didn't forget to bring towels for everyone and have to return home to retrieve them...I must be getting good at this mothering thing? Except for that earlier part about dropping my baby into a jet propelled swimming pool...)

During one of our pool excursions a few weeks ago, Kate was waaaaay short of the height requirement for these appealing slides...

There was a way around the little guy with the ruler ...a swim test. Kate had to swim 25 meters across the lap pool without stopping or touching the bottom. If she passed the test, she would be allowed to S-L-I-D-E. Would she make it? Would she have to spend the day watching the "big kids" slide while looking wistfully from the side of the pool? Would she be able to earn that coveted blue wristband which allowed munchkins into the upper realms of the slides? 

 Oh yeah!! (Happily it matched the suit...)

Thank you very much Mrs. Mary Jo!

The rest of the gang had a super day too...

Molly even got to tell the frog to make sure and close his mouth when he got into the water!

Swimming lessons well learned and much appreciated and worth every early morning!

A Post Card for You

Click on picture to enlarge...

Vacation Greetings from The Wright Gang

(a.k.a. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything!)

Close to You

We were closing down a full day of vacation fun with a snack at one of our favorite hang-outs. Some of us were sagging, some of us were sunburnt, and some of us were just plain starving. Plopping down on picnic-table-style benches, the six of us were comfortably arranged...or so I thought.

"Doesn't anyone want to sit by me?" a weary voice queried.

"Hey, look you and Cole got seats by yourselves, you two are big time," I said...too tired lazy to engineer a seating change and hoping to make her less lonely with mere words.

Then a much deeper voice said, "Of course I want to sit by you!"

And with one little scoot...

...all was right in her world.

Bookstore Heaven

We are in the "stay-cation" portion of our summer vacation.  Week one was happily spent in sand and pools while week two finds us adventuring in the region close to our home.  As we travelled to one of our favorite haunts a few towns away, we took a small detour because my Man mentioned that the new Barnes and Noble in that area should be close to being completed.
"Don't wreck or anything," he said, "but if you can see off in that clearing, that's where they are building it."  (I would like to comment at this point that it's been well over a decade since I've logged any fender benders so, I'm not sure why the warning about wrecking was included, but in the excitement of a new bookstore, I let it slide without comment.  I guess this counts as the comment ;-)).

We decided to exit (without wrecking) and check things out.  As the silver bullet climbed the hill and made the turn into what we assumed would be a bookstore parking lot, we saw instead an entire shopping center with very unique stores and restaurants, each of which, seemed enormous in their size and scope.  The Barnes and Noble that initially drew us to this location stood in the center of it all.  We piled from the car in eager anticipation...

Know this...we Wrights take our bookstores very seriously.  They must meet some very high standards to be put on our LIST.  Our list of bookstores is long, but the list of bookstores that we load the children into the car and drive more than 40 miles to visit is short and sweet!  Stores must have a descent religion section to keep my Man interested.  The mystery section must be current and overflowing with titles for me.  A cooking section that has at least a few new titles is always a plus, but not mandatory.  My favorite section is the fiction/literature section, and this section varies from store to store, but the wider the range of books available in this section, the better!

The very most vital section in any bookstore for us is the children's section, but not for the reasons you may assume.  We don't value the kids' section over all the others because we need a good selection for the creation of well-rounded readers (we go to the library for that!).  We need a good children's section so that the children will be properly entertained while the adults take turns looking for books!  One of us looks in "our section" while the other oversees the kids and then we trade places.  The better the kid's section in the bookstore, the more peaceful the person on kid duty remains and the more we enjoy the bookstore as a family.  That's how we roll!

Upon entering the new Barnes & Noble we were a bit impressed with the overall size of the store.  The kids made a beeline to the children's section, which in most B&Ns is a treat. Entering the children's section of this particular B&N left my little crew of book lovers speechless!

The above picture shows merely one half of the kid's section.  The other half was anchored by what our girls refer to as the "stage area" which all B&Ns have, but not quite to this level of grandeur...

This children's section ROCKED! Half of it was filled with toys and games, the other half stocked to the brim with good books.  Child-size tables and chairs were scattered throughout invitingly.

 B&N is deep into its Summer Reading Program, as are all bookstores and libraries worth their while, and the displays showed as much.

This is the new John Grisham for kids.  Cole finished it at the beach and said that it was excellent and did I think that the Grisham books written for adults were too old for him--um YES!  This book is, of course, the first in a series, so we will be eagerly awaiting its release in months to come.

The toys that lined the ample shelves were of the high quality, high creativity sort.

My sisters and I had something like this when we were little, except Barbie was the "scientist" in our set.

Back on the side with the books, we found some familiar friends...

"Mouse" was there, as was Curious George, Pooh Bear was up in a tree across the room, and the Cat in the Hat looked down on us from the wall.

This children's section had its very own cookbook section.  These "Princess" books are on my short-list for purchase soon!  I've been stalking them for a few months now.  New ones keep appearing on bookstore shelves all over.  There are loads of cute food ideas between these covers!

As we were taking in all of the wonders that were, I noticed a young man with a green apron walking around carrying a tray on which a dozen or so of these...

...were arranged.  Behold! A sample of a Vanilla Bean Frappiccino with a splash of cherry flavoring! Oh MY!  It's a good thing I enjoyed my first sip because I was all too soon asked to hand it over...

...and it's hard to say "no" to that cute little sun-speckled nose! One wonders sometimes if free samples are really lucrative for the establishment offering them...

Wonder no more.

Mmmm mmmm mmmmm.

I would love to give you a report on the literature section, or the cookbook section, or even the religion section but I can't!  Seems we never really made it out of the children's section!!

On Vacation I Promise...

Children, before we get into the van please gather round and raise your right hands.

Now, repeat after me:

I promise...
...to sleep at least a little bit in the car on the way. This shouldn't be too difficult seeing as you were all too excited to sleep last night.

...not to complain about being bored on the long care ride. Our family van has more entertainment features than the homes where Mommy and Daddy grew up.

...not to throw-up in the car. It's just not cool.

...to make use of the available facilities when they are available, not 5 minutes after they were available.

...to keep Molly supplied with pacifiers (implements of joy) while in the van AT ALL TIMES.  This is the sworn duty of the sibling in the seat nearest to Molly. Do your family proud!

...while in the car I will not invade the space of my sibling. As our travels progress and we grow a bit weary, it will be advisable to refrain from even looking in one another's direction.


...when it is Mommy's turn to drive not to pretend to be frightened. This is silly. Mommy is a good driver. You are safe.


...not to ask "are we there yet?" 462 times in the first hour of the trip. This will not cause the time to pass more quickly.  Quite the opposite!  Your pilot will do his best to keep you informed of our hourly progress.  If you need information more often, please refer to Jane (that's what we've named our GPS lady. It seemed like anyone who talked more in the car than the kids deserved a name), who will tell you the estimated time of arrival at our "DESTINATION"!  Jane always sounds so proud of us when we ARRIVE.

...not to complain about sunscreen or sunSCREAM as you  call it. Your father and I understand that it is ooey and sticky and that it takes what seems like an eternity to apply. Your father and I also know how painful a sunburn is, as much of our childhood days occurred before sunscreen was invented. You will wear the sunscreen!

...not to make any comments about how Mommy looks in her swimsuit. I am traumatized enough already.

(No picture here...you are indeed welcome! :-)

...understand that there absolutely WILL be spashing at the pool. Be forewarned, I am powerless to make Daddy stop.

...to go willingly to the beach to play in the sand with Daddy-no matter how much you'd rather be in the lazy river at the hotel. We know YOU prefer the pool. Daddy, however,  prefers the beach. He loves to catch a wave or two on the boogie board and build sandcastles with you. Enjoy it. Soon he will be to old to play this way.

...to go with the flow.

...to have a great time.

...to know how much your parents love you and cherish spending this time away with you (before you go and get all grown up and have limited space in your own family van and are unable to take us with you and your family on vacation no matter how good we promise to behave!).

Do you promise??
Alrighty then...let's go!