Breakfast of Champions

The YMCA Swim Camp's new champion in treading water (they called it after thirty minutes!)  suggests three cinnamon buns and a giant glass of milk before another long morning in the deep end. 

Cheers to 7 Years

What better way to follow up a fabulous 40th than with a fabulous seventh birthday party? All hands were on deck at LHP pool to dive into the pool -- and the largest birthday cake in recorded history. We had perfect weather for both parties and cousins Colton, Carrington, and Sophie on hand to share the fun.

This was actually the decoy party Friday night before the rest of the gang arrived...

Water balloon toss

Donald had about six kids hanging off him at all times!

Cheers to 40 Years

Balloons and a special rendition of Happy Birthday brought the birthday party to Donald on Friday night. Derek arranged a special craft beer tasting that included the highest rated beer in America, Heddy Topper, and we put together a feast that included 8 different kinds of sausages and soft pretzels.  I'm not convinced Donald was 100% surprised but it was fun anyway.

The tasting menu... And a schnapps belt!

Derek holds court

Fabulous Fourth

There were so many perfect beach days we nearly lost count! We spent an entire week in our swim suits, soaking up the best of Rocky over the fouth.

Moment of parenting brilliance: pool penalties for bad behavior....3 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. Plus, it encourages math skills as one racks up penalties.

Pin the tail on the donkey:still fun!

Lobster Dinner 

Day of Wonders

It started with seeing a fox casually resting on our patio this morning:

And ended with a wonderful surprise: seeing our shy, nervous Patrick step to the edge, dive in, and WIN his very first swim race. One of our proudest parenting moments yet.

Members of the swim team!

Little Mermaid

Yesterday at Rocky Madeline demonstrated her amazing new skill-- dunking her head ALL THE WAY under! She swam for 4 hours yesterday and staggered out of bed this morning to croak 'can we go to Rocky now'?

Dunking her head... She likes it when we go under with her and wave to each other.

Success! She retrieved a Princess diving.toy.