Family Night at the Pool

Tonight was Family Night again! A favorite event in our house. :) Tonight we went all out and got someone from the practice to cover Brad's pager for 4 glorious hours... as it turns out, it didn't go off at all the whole time, but it was worth it for the freedom of just knowing he wasn't responsible for anyone else for those few hours. We drove out to the Holland Aquatic Center and let the kids do some swimming.

Nora's bathing suit is of course too big, but it will fit her again next year, and it still looks cute. :)

Carolyn was the most excited of all because she is big enough to "swim" all by herself in this pool.

She conquered a big fear and actually tried the slide this time. We've been here several times and she has refused to try it. This time, Brad took a few extra minutes to show her both the top and the bottom of the slide, they watched a few other kids do it, and then he asked her if she wanted to try. It was brilliant. When faced with a situation like this (and it happens all the time because fear is a pretty big motivator for Carolyn)- I usually try to encourage her to "trust Mommy and you'll like it!" But Brad helped her to deduce for herself that the slide was "safe" and then she made her own decision based on the "evidence." Maybe she just needs to analyze a situation before deciding to take a risk. Makes sense; she's typically one who has to figure things out for herself (just like me! I've never found it easy to just take someone else's word for it!)

Anyway, she was so proud of herself for facing her fear and doing something brave and seeing how much fun it was. For the rest of the time we were there, she was up and down that slide, thrilled to pieces each time she successfully did it and we all (even Nora!) cheered. :)

I tried to take some pictures and they are all pretty lousy. Had the bright idea to stand right in front of the slide to get an action shot. This was it. You can guess how wet my camera got. Physics was never my strong suit. After that I stopped trying to take pictures in the water.

Nora got cold and wanted to get out, but she was happy to walk around the pool deck after she dried off a bit. Her hair will give you a clue why I make hair bows- if I didn't, this is what she'd look like all the time! :)

Overall, it was a very fun night. I'm so thankful for my family. What a blessing they all are!!