Swim Lessons

Since I've had a 3 month break from babysitting, I thought it would be fun to sign Andrea and I up for Mom & Tot swim lessons. The lessons last two weeks and luckily their first session was still during the time we had free. Andrea did so well on the first lesson, she did everything the teacher asked. The next day she realized she could say "no" when the teacher challenged her and I think she was onery from allergies. But as the days went on she got used the routine, got some allergy medicine, and we both looked forward to going to the pool.

 I was a little nervous to have the classes at an outdoor pool but the weather was nice for the most part. The water was also heated so that helped.

The teacher had some really cute ideas for getting the little ones to learn the basics. We would sing wheels on the bus with varied actions to teach them the front stroke and back stroke. We also sang "I'm a little pancake on my back" to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot. This taught the kids to float on their back. Andrea's favorite was jumping into the pool to Mommy, and playing "Blast off" by pushing off of the wall and kicking.

The last day Grandma and Grandpa came to watch us and were nice enough to take some pictures. I hope we will get to do more swim lessons next year, it was a lot of fun!

Tonsil update: We took Andrea to an ear, nose, and throat Doctor who said as long as she is breathing ok, then there is no reason to remove the tonsils. The dr also gave us allergy samples (I love Doctors who are sympathetic to those of us without insurance) and even though Andrea's tonsils are still swollen, she is a lot happier!

Cedar 2011

Ryan and I decided to take a trip to Cedar City over Memorial Day weekend. Our main purpose was so Ryan could help his brother Matt put in a back flow preventor. Which, I'm sure Ryan would be embarrassed to know, I still don't understand exactly what it does... but apparently it's useful.

Andrea did awesome on the way down, just watched her movies without much complaint. She used the potty in every town we came to, even was a good enough sport to go peepee in her potty chair off the side of the highway :) We arrived late Friday night and tried to get Andrea calmed down enough for bed, her and I spent the night in the spare bedroom and Ryan was a good sport to sleep in the recliner or on the couch, he tried both. I think it really helped Andrea sleep in being in the quiet bedroom.

The next morning Matt and Ryan began working on their project while the kids rode bikes and played. After they were satisfied with their work, we all decided to drive to Richfield to visit Grandma LaVelle. She had fallen while on a visit and hurt her hip. She is staying at a rehabilitation center until she is walking again on her own. So we piled all 7 of us in Matt and Sara's Durango and headed off. It was quite the trip, trying to keep 3 kids happy with ipods and making numerous potty breaks. I think LaVelle enjoyed her surprise visit and the kids were very well behaved. Afterwards they definitely needed somewhere to run around before we took the hour and 1/2 trip back, so we stopped at an Indian museum. They did have a small kids area to play in and a walking trail to look at petroglyphs. I think the kids enjoyed it enough, at least they could stretch their legs.

Saturday night we had some yummy pizza and visited Grandma Helen and Grandpa Ray. We were still debating whether to go home Sunday, and have Monday to work on projects at home, or wait until Monday to make the drive. We decided that the weather up North was even worse than down South so there was no rush to get home. So Sunday was a nice relaxing day which started with a visit to Aunt/Grandma Sandy and Uncle/Grandpa Fernlee's while the family headed to church. Grandma Sandy had a bag full of goodies for Andrea and a surprise for us all. Sandy, who's dogs are always a hit with Andrea, had a new puppy! Her name is cookie and she is adorable! Andrea wasn't too sure of cookie at first because Grandma Sandy warned her that she likes to bite. But Andrea enjoyed all the dogs, she made sure to check on Buster sleeping under the bed, she fed Teva lunch, even laid down with Cookie, when the little pup had been tuckered out.

Sunday we ran some errands, got Andrea some new DVDs for the trip back, and stopped at Beall's to check out the bargains. Matt and Sara had planned a nice barbeque (being Memorial Day weekend after all) and even though the weather brought us inside, the food was still delicious!

As you can see, Meryn and Andrea dressed up for the occasion in Meryn's princess dresses.

Monday morning we headed home and Andrea slept most of the way, that's always a plus! I thought it was a very enjoyable trip and although I wasn't looking forward to traveling with a two year old I was pleasantly surprised. Andrea adapted well to staying at Matt and Sara's and Ryan was, as always, a great help.

Now we get to deal with Andrea's mystery illness. Monday night after our trip she got a fever and since her tonsils have been swollen for 2 weeks I took her in the next day to check it out. The dr was very shocked to see the size of her tonsils but the strep test came back negative, so now we have to consider taking them out. I guess you'll all found out soon enough if that's the case.