Visit at Aunt Claire's

We've done some visiting at Aunt Claire's house while Grama Marty and Grampa Rick are down from Montana for their annual summer visit. Ryan played on the upper deck in the backyard while I took Andrea and Kevin in the pool.

Kevin amazed me. He never swims alone when he can't touch the bottom of a pool. He usually clings to a grown-up like suction cup. However, this time, with the floaties on, he started to swim a little way from the ladder and back to it, all by himself!  Then, he started to swim about halfway across the pool to meet Mommy in the middle!

Andrea is pretty much fearless with her floaties on. She swims all over on her own, and she loves to jump in.  She will do those things without floaties in a pool with a shallow end.  Anyway, she is a fish: it's hard to get her out of a pool once she's having fun!

Aunt Claire had a cool little row-boat for the pool.  Kevin had so much fun trying to row around, and he kept singing, "Row Your Boat" to himself. 

Ryan was watching all the fun we were having, and he kept getting so excited hearing his brother and sister's squeals and laughter. He looked kind of sad and lonely, so I decided to try bringing him in the pool, too.

HE LOVED IT! I could barely keep him from slipping out of my arms because he was wiggling and splashing so much. Look at these huge grins!

Grama Marty is addicted to playing those claw-machines that grab toys. Every year, she brings down several bags of stuffed animals that she's won for the kids to share.  On this night, she dumped several bags of stuffed animals on Aunt Claire's living room floor, and let the kids dive in! Some of Aunt Claire's grandkids were there, too.

Ryan found one he was interested in. Nathen, who is about 8 days older than Ryan, was really interested in what Ryan was doing.

The older kids went back in the pool later in the evening, when Daddy came over after work.

Kevin and Addison, who are close in age, played really well together.  In the row-boat, Kevin showed Addie how to fish, using a pool noodle.

Nathen is a friendly little guy, and wanted desperately to play with Ryan.  He tried everything.  He got down on Ryan's level; he crawled like Ryan; he touched Ryan; he smiled and babbled at Ryan; he even copied the way Ryan was playing.

Unfortunately, Ryan was not interested.  He kept trying to escape from Nathen.  Poor Nathen just couldn't understand why Ryan wouldn't play with him.

Eventually, Ryan got mad and crawled away.  When Nathen went near him, Ryan cried!  Nathen was persistent, but sweet:  he even tried to give Ryan some kisses to cheer him up!

Video from Aunt Claire's

Ryan was so excited to be in the pool with us. I couldn't believe how happy he was.  He even started kicking his legs and trying to swim all over the place!

Kevin was so cute in the row-boat.  If you turn up the volume, you can hear him quietly singing, "Row Your Boat."  Then, he gets a bit silly and rows like someone pressed his fast-forward button!

Like I said, Kevin amazed me with how well he was swimming on his own, and swimming across the pool to me.  I was glad to see him enjoying it so much.