An Eventful Beginning to July!

Well, as I start to write this 4th of July post, I need to write how exciting the very first days of July were! :) My niece was expected to arrive sometime in mid-to late-June but oh no, Miss Quinn Rosen Brown was much more patriotic than that. She chose to arrive on July 1 after a very long and anticipated journey:) They are coming back soon and along with everyone else in the Midwest:), I am so stinkin' excited to see them all! Here's some pics of my beautiful niece...

One of my favorite pics of Miss Quinn, what a cutie!

And, I am kind of partial to any pic with her Daddy. So sweet.

Besides being obsessed with my phone and catching pics and info on our newly-expanded family in Okinawa, we had a lot of fun for the 4th of July! Dave was unfortunately on call for the holiday weekend, but Mom and Dad came up to relax and play. The weather was generally good, the bugs weren't too bad and we had a nice balance of activity and relaxation. Since we couldn't go out on the boat over the weekend, we took the kids over to a supper club on the Adams County side of the lake on Thursday night. By the way, Collin loves the boat and does really well. His only issue is that he is happiest when he is on Daddy's lap/driving the boat. He will fuss and go over to the captain's chair and is totally content there:) So as long as Dave is cool with it, Kate and I get to relax! It was a gorgeous night and while we were still sitting out on the deck finishing up we got the text that Mom and Dad were three minutes from the house. It was a scenic but quick ride back across the lake:) and we arrived to Mom and Dad on a Face Time call with Tony, Tara & Quinn! 

Friday was spent on the back beach, playing in the sand, paddle boarding, picnic, and napping (oops, guilty!).  On Saturday, Mom and I played tennis and then Dad, Dave and I played a round of golf! There is a lovely course between our house and Mauston, but I'm sad to report that Dave and I rarely get to go. I was excited to play, though it was my first round in two years. How is that possible?! I had a blast, though I have to admit that is quite an active day for me. There was no soreness until the next day:) 

We did pretty good! Wish it was easier to get a sitter and play more.
Or had a husband who could play (ankle!)

Driving on #15
This is one of two open holes, otherwise it is very wooded!

We also cleaned up and had supper in town and then parked in the hospital parking lot to watch fireworks. We didn't time it perfectly and had a lot of time to kill, but the kids did great. The fireworks show was nothing to really write home about, but our kids loved it and so it was perfect:) I have no idea how Collin was still up at 9:45 p.m. He was pretty stoked to be walking around the back of the van and once the fireworks started, he just sat calmly in Gma's lap and would say "boom" after each one. Kate ran around and made a friend with another girl in the next car. She liked the fireworks but not the "big boomers," I have to admit that I feel the same way!

Gpa and Collin waiting for fireworks to start

Our family pic for this 4th of July:)

On Sunday, Mom and Dad escaped grandparent duty and played some tennis in the morning and we played close to the house as the sun hid most of the day. We ate on the deck and blocked the stairs so Collin could walk/run around and climb on the chairs on the deck. Dave and Dad found some projects to work on, of course! and Mom and I did some thinking on the golf tournament coming up.

Collin's words continue to expand! He is kind of like a parrot, repeating a lot of what we say, and added, "ruff" for a doggie sound as well. He is also doing this blinking thing that is beyond adorable. He is such a cheeser;  flirty and affectionate, mischievous...trouble:)  His car/airplane/tractor sounds are getting much more complex as well. In the last few days, he is loving Dave's old Matchbox cars and will vroom them around all over, crash them and say "uh oh." He has spent hours on the JD tractor (I may have let the kids watch a tractor pull on tv while supper was finishing up the other day. I think it had an effect.)

Started climbing in the sun room, had to move furniture around again

Driving his tractor!

Oh, he was just in to the doctor (July 8) for his 15 month well check (oops! a little late) and he is 23 lbs. 32 in tall and is running tall and skinny with a big head, as he always has. He did great at the doc (our friend, Ryan) and mostly just tried to climb up on the chairs, play with the curtain and give Ryan a hug. He had three shots which made him clingy and seemingly sleepy though he perked up at home. 

Shots:(

We are currently in the midst of some private swim lessons for the kiddos. Kate was expressing some interest in swimming without her life jacket but was in no way interested in going to swimming lessons. She freaks out any time we ask her to put her face in the water and then we recently had an unfortunate event at the pool that made her even more skittish. She came out of the bathroom onto the pool deck and forgot her life jacket was off. She went right down the steps and jumped in and started going down. She was panicking and I got to her pretty quickly but she was very scared. She was really not interested after that:(  The good news is she doesn't mind having her life jacket on! Which is something we have pushed a lot because of the boat, but we definitely need to get her trained to swim without it. Especially living where we do, so much water. 

So...I was trying to find information on swimming lessons in the area and was discouraged with the times/schedule and the sign up (already missed some). Dave asked around at the hospital and one of the daughters of someone he works with is a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Mauston pool. And she has babysat for us before! Twice a week in the afternoon, Stephanie comes to our pool and Dave or I take both kids over for about a half an hour. She was hesitant at first. Wanted to wear her life jacket (we didn't let her)! Every time Stephanie asked if she wanted to do something new, she would say no. But she ended up doing what she asked and loved it. She has been super excited ever since and has requested a kick board with Ariel on it like Stephanie brought:) 

We are bringing Collin as well, since I feel like it is good to start early (and just didn't with my first born, I guess!), he will be the one I am most concerned about, much more of a dare devil and his entire life is surrounded by water. He likes to splash and play, Dave got him to kick a little better last time, and then his last lesson ended with with a bloody nose. I was home getting supper ready and Dave took the kids over. They came back and he yelled for me to grab Collin (not panicked...) and then said that he took a bad tumble on the concrete around the pool. Apparently, he was standing by the steps or had just come out and Dave expected him to come right back in, but instead Collin flashed him a smile and took off running the other way. He got about three steps before he fell and landed on his face. He had a bloody nose and scraped mouth, luckily no damage to teeth. He stopped crying when Dave picked him up and he is still red around his mouth but it doesn't look too bad. Glad I wasn't there to see the blood! I am really fine with blood, but I'm guessing that seeing it coming out of my small child will set off a different reaction in me:)

You can't really tell he fell! And graham crackers fix almost anything:)

All's well that ends well. I imagine this tumble will be a mere scratch compared to what's coming in Collin's future. Good thing we know people in the ER:) We have lessons tonight, so maybe I'll try and grab a little video sometime. If someone can hold Collin!