goggles

my main reason for bloglessness has been these two.

they keep life full these long, summer days.

eli's loves his goggles.  they are his favorite color!  whenever he sees something else green, he points it out and says, "green like goggles!" excitedly.

we joined a pool this summer and have enjoyed getting in the water a lot!  ava, who swore at the beginning of the summer that she would NEVER put her head under water (drama queen style), is now almost swimming, dunking her head under water with & without goggles and jumping in the pool herself.  she has come a very long way.  i am so proud she decided to be brave!!

speaking of brave.

eli.

bless him.

we were at my friend, Sandra's, neighborhood pool.  i had taken off his arm floaties so he could warm up while we ate a snack (he was shivering with blue lips).  he decided to jump in the deep pool, perhaps forgetting he was float-less.  i was distracted with ava, but Sandra saw him and jumped in the pool to save him.  she was clothed....and so remarkably fast that eli was unfazed and would have jumped right in again if allowed.

that was summer's worst day.

a week later my heart stopped pounding so hard and knew we had to go back to the pool.  i had to do what no mother wants to do.  let him struggle.  i was in the water as he jumped in and i purposefully let him struggle.  it took him FOUR painful times to realize that jumping in without floaties isn't a good idea.

summer's second-worst day.

thankfully he has remembered this lesson.  swimming lessons are in his future!!

thank so much to Sandra, my world's favorite lifeguard!