Pretty In Pink

Oh Summer...How I Love You!

We've been busy bees the last couple of weeks. Instead of posting separately about all of these summery things, I decided to just combine into one big post. So...here goes!

Swimming Lesson Graduates

The girls finished up their swimming lessons last week and, truthfully, I was a little sad! They had such a great time and did so well that I wished there was at least one more week to see how much further they would've gone. Gracie Claire started out as a "Pike," which is the lowest level, and made her way to a "Starfish," which is the next to last level. This girl is a swimming fool! She loves it now and has gotten so much more confidence! It was totally worth it for her. Sydney started out as a "Pike" as well and moved up to an "Eel." She only moved up one level, but is also so much more confident. On the very last day of lessons, they let all of the kids go down the big water slide. This is a very special treat because not just anyone can go down the slide. When you go the this pool to swim on your own, you have to pass a swimming test to get to go down the slide. The girls were super excited with a dash of caution thrown in. They had a blast on the slide and we are so proud of how well they did in their swimming lessons.

Would she have done this before? Not so much!

Posing...of course!

Slide Time!! Do you think she's excited? :)

So fun!!!

Syd's turn!!

With just a little help from Miss Lisa... :)

Waving to their fans...



Our Swimming Lesson Graduates!

(L) Sydney and her teacher Miss Christina (R) Gracie Claire and her teacher Miss Lisa -- Great and Sweet Teachers!

And now for some video of the little fishies...as if the crazy amount of pictures isn't enough! :)

My Classroom

My summer has seriously flown by and I've already been in some trainings and in my classroom getting things ready for the new school year. I moved classrooms, so I started from scratch. If you've known me as a teacher and seen any of my classrooms, you know that I have a frog theme going on. I will always have a frog them. There's just no reason to switch when I have such a crazy amount of frog stuff. I chose frogs when I started teaching because of all the cute frog stuff there was. I don't have a real affection for them, but because of the theme I chose, I get lots of frog themed gifts...which is fine with me! :0) These pictures are from when I was just starting to unpack...I've gotten a lot further and need to take some updated pictures. Those are coming soon! :o)

Paul's Triathlon

As lots of you know, Paul trains for and participates in lots of triathlons throughout the year. Last weekend he did an Olympic distance "Disco Triathlon" at Lake Ray Roberts. Olympic distance equals a 1500 yd. swim, a 23 mile bike ride, and a 10K run. We all got up early and headed out to cheer him on.

Just coming off of his swim...transitioning to the the bike. (He's in blue.)

Heading out...

Playing a little ring around the rosie while waiting for Daddy... ;)

My Pretty Little Ladies

The girls also did some "tree climbing" while we waited. Can you see the look of terror in their eyes? :)

Coming in from his bike ride and starting the run...I'm not really sure how he's smiling. I think I might be lurching at this point. Actually, I know I would. :)

Heading to the finish line! Way to go babe! So proud of you!

That, friends, is what we've been up to! We've been busy this summer, but have had a great one so far!

L-O-V-E

My fave little models...

I am so blessed!

Yep...they're my fave, but I didn't say they were the easiest little peeps to photograph! :) By the way...keep scrolling to read about our fun trip to the zoo!

Lions & Tigers & Bears...OH MY!

I know. You can't get over my clever title. :)

Today we took the girls to the zoo! We love going to the zoo and we've been there a thousand times. Today was a little different because we got to see the MOLA. Paul was about beside himself because, even as an adult, he LOVES all things reptile. He has talked about it enough that even the girls couldn't wait. I couldn't even tell you how many times they asked, "Can we go see the MOLA now?" Paul and I both thought that it was cool, but were a little disappointed. The best thing about it was all of the new, big, poisonous snakes they now have...a king cobra, a green mamba, and a gaboon viper were some of our faves. Yes friends, I've watched so many shows about poisonous reptiles that I'm actually a little bit knowledgeable on the subject. :) Besides the MOLA, we loved our usual favorites...the monkeys, big cats, flamingos, and so many more.

Something totally disgusting, not surprising, and hilarious happened while we were there. We were just finishing going through the monkey house and walked outside to look through the big window at the chimpanzee enclosement. There was a brand new baby chimp sleeping on his mama who was also dead to the world. I don't believe in evolution, so I'm not trying to relate in that way, but I could sort of relate to her. Having a newborn is hard work. Her baby was napping, so she was napping. Good time management, I say. While baby and mama snoozed away, daddy was chillin' right next to them. He wasn't getting a nap in though...he was gettin' his sip on, if you know what I mean. Mama chimp, who obviously feeds her baby her own milk, wasn't even budging as daddy chimp yanked, twisted, and sipped on her milk giver. Paul and I couldn't stop laughing. Disgusting, very human like, and hilarious. Ah...I hope no one is offended by this little monkey to human comparison. I'm just sayin'.

Cute Little Guy

Now for the even cuter pics...

So much fun!

Checkin' Things Out!

I don't usually focus on taking lots of animal pictures, but today I thought I'd get some good ones. Fun stuff...

The zoo ROCKS!! :)