The Burrus Family: Summer Fun, Part 1: Water Babies

Thanks to troublesome little Baby #3, I spent a lot of this summer feeling pretty tired and nauseous (luckily, I feel great now--oh how I love the second trimester). It didn't stop us from having a lot of fun, but it did stop me from blogging about all that fun. So to catch you all up (I know you've been wondering), here come two big blog posts about our summer. The first is devoted to the water, the place where we spent the majority of this hot, hot Texas summer.

Swimming was really fun this summer. Charlie took lessons in the spring, and got to where he was swimming pretty well. He can't quite figure out how to take a breath and continue swimming horizontally, so he can't go across the pool yet, but he can get pretty far. He is the most fearless swimmer ever, which is nice, but sometimes a bit terrifying (especially when he dives in when I'm not looking). He loves to run and jump/dive into the water, and got really into the diving board. After some initial hesitation, Evie decided she loved her "foaties" and that made the summer so much easier for me. With her puddle jumper on, she was totally independent in the water, and will happily paddle around the pool for an hour or more (she can easily be diverted for snacks, however :). I never felt as good as I did in the water this summer, so we spent a LOT of time there. During several weeks in the middle of the summer, we swam at least 1-2 times every day!

Although neither of my kids will leave them on, they both love trying on sunglasses. You will see a lot of them in this post. :)

Here is Charlie at Henry's birthday party at one of our favorite splash pads.

Another excited birthday party attendee...this girl fell in love with cake this summer!

We spent several hot mornings at this splash pad...until I couldn't take the heat anymore. :)

Thanks to Rick and Bethany, we spent a ton of time out at Dallas Athletic Club, one of our very favorite places to swim. To Charlie and Evie, this place is heaven. Not only does it have an awesome pool with a diving board and slides, but it also has great food, a playground, and golf carts. And, for some reason, it always feels about 10 degrees cooler there. What more could you want??

Here we are enjoying the DAC one evening with the Stoltzes and the Jordans.

Charlie's happiest day was when he and Palmer figured out how to order ice cream sandwiches (all by themselves!) from the order window at the DAC. Watching them negotiate this transaction from afar was hilarious. It took a while, but they were eventually victorious. :)

Every time we were in Seguin, we made sure to swim at Dede's house and at the Ski Lodge. Both were so fun, especially because we had so many fun cousins to swim with!

More sunglass action...

...Charlie also got to wear them at the dentist's office (the appointment went SO much better this year than last--he loved it!).

These awesome water slides were prominent parts of several birthday parties we went to this summer. They are so fun, and totally on my next summer wish list!

We spent so many beautiful afternoons swimming with the Hendersons at a pool in our neighborhood. We all had so much fun and have so many fun memories from these lazy afternoons. Carrie and I were especially happy to discover the outdoor shower at the pool. Once we figured out we could wrap pool time and bath time into one, it was hard to keep us away! :)

Here are the two little swimmers on the way to the pool. They always insisted on holding their pool noodles (which always became swords, much to my chagrin). Evie has gotten really into her hat this summer, and if Charlie has his on, you can't keep her out of hers.

We also enjoyed several swims at Lakewood Country Club with Ryan and Ford, two of Charlie's very favorite friends. So much fun!

More sunglasses...apparently they are even required during breakfast. :)

Even Walter got in on the swimming action. :)

Some days, we just took it easy and swam in the wading pools in our backyard. The kids love this so much--I think they would do it every day if we could!

Our bushes got a lot of water during our swims. :)

They also love to spray each other with the hose. Simple pleasures. :)

They both love this water slide. Evie tends to tumble a bit on her way down, but Charlie shoots down like a maniac (helps that he keeps the fastest boogie board for himself :).

Charlie even mastered the art of sliding down on his back. Charlie's philosophy: once I master something, figure out a way to make it more dangerous. :)

More fun at the DAC. On this particular day, I was feeling guilty because I felt like I had zero swimming pictures of the kids, due in large part to the facts that (1) I hate taking my camera to the pool and getting it around all that water and (2) it was hard for me to take pictures of the kids swimming because Mr. I-don't-need-floaties required my constant attention in the pool. Those of you who are still slogging through this post probably disagree! :)