August 6, 2012

Outside Temp: 75 F (it hasn't cooled off like it usually does.  I think we're in for thunderstorms tonight... I can smell rain)

What I cooked today:
Burgers and Pasta: I was so tired, I almost made them go without dinner.  Boy, is my family lucky that I worry about actually feeding them. 

Update:
We went into Stanford today.  I had to run some errands, so the kids (minus Ryan, I didn't want to risk it with his new line), jumped in the car with me, and we headed east.

We stopped at the Elevator in Geyser, to pick up some chicken feed.  As luck would have it, the cat that lives there had her kitten.  So stinking cute.  I think the kitten is about 4 weeks old, still mewing and so small.  Of course, Katie fell in love, and spent the entire time coo-ing over the kitten.  I think we are going to have to break down soon, if only to get her to stop her begging for a cat.

After that, we headed over to the library in Stanford.  The kids had some books to return, and wanted to get a few more.  The librarian over there is amazing.  I guess it helps that there are so few kids, but she knows everyone, what they like, what they've read, etc.  She had asked her son about a book for Allen, and was looking for it.  There was some confusion over whether her son had brought it back or if it was still at the house.  So, since her son was at the pool, she told us to ask him and then come back.

So, after I finished my other errands, we went over to the pool.  The kids are getting so much better at both swimming and diving.  Allen is loving the diving board, and he's showing off his back and front flips (of course, the front flips usually end up in a flop of some kind, but he is getting better). 

Connor was able to dive (head first) off the board for the first time.  He has always been nervous about diving head first, ever since the last time, when he belly flopped.  It made quite an impression.  But, one of the nice ladies in Stanford offered to help him out, and show him how.  I was able to stand back and watch.  Amazingly, he listened to her, and (perhaps because it wasn't me) he managed to get into the water head first.  After about 3-4 more tries, he was able to go off the board!  Woo hoo!

Katie has been practicing her swimming.  She hasn't had much practice before now, so she was very unsure of herself.  We went back and forth a few times, with me giving her pointers (your head needs to be in the water, cup your hands, don't forget to kick, etc).  After about 30 minutes, she decided she was ready to try going from side to side.  She did great.  So, we moved up to the deep end (10 feet) and she decided to swim side to side in the deep end.  I think she was a little surprised when she reached the end with no problems.  Slow and steady, don't freak out, don't forget to kick.  You should have seen the smile on her face!  She was so proud of herself!  So, she had to swim back and forth a few more times, just to prove that she could.  Amazing! 

While we were at the pool, we met a very nice older gentleman, and we started talking.  It turned out he was part of a group that were bicycling across the country.  There were 2 older men, a middle aged man, a younger man (probably in his late 20's, early 30's) and a younger woman (in her mid 20's).  They started out in Washington and were biking the whole way.  One of the older men used a recombinant bicycle, where he could use his arms to peddle, instead of his legs.  Both men were probably in their mid 70's.  The whole group was inspiring, although I know that I'm too lazy to ride a bike across the country! 

After the pool, we went back to the library.  The librarian's son said that he book was there, but she still couldn't find it.  So, being the awesome librarian that she was, she left us in charge of the library for a few minutes, while she went home to look for it!  After about 10 minutes, she came back, very upset because she couldn't find it.  Then, she happened to look at the bookshelf where she puts 'reserved' books, and there it was, with his name on it!  We had a great laugh over the concept of putting things where they belong, and never finding them again!

Of course, with our busy day (which, of course, required a trip to the little grocery store for ice cream), I was pooped, and immediately fell into bed when we got home.  I wonder if my sunburn had anything to do with that...