Summer is for... SWIMMING!!

We have been having some VERY HOT weather here...at least for us. It's been in the mid to upper 90s for about 5 days in a row! We sometimes hit the 90s in August, but normal temperatures for this time of the year are about 78 or so. We don't have central air conditioning (guess it wasn't invented 100 years ago when our house was built ;) )... but we have several window air conditioners that keep it cooler in the main parts of our house. We're very thankful for that. Our first summer here in Pennsylvania, we didn't have any a/c and they were having an awful heat wave. It was in the upper-90s for a couple weeks. We had just moved from TX expecting cooler weather, and had a 3-month old baby. We were miserable!!! So, we're very glad when these hot spells come that we've acquired some a/c's to make it more bearable.

We've been doing a lot of swimming these last few days...either at the pool at our friend's house, or else at the lake near us. The girls have been having a great time. Even Julia loves the water! Chloe does pretty well swimming around. She still doesn't like to swim without a ring, or jump off of the diving board, but she does really well swimming all around, and loves to look under the water with her mask and snorkel. I'm hoping by the end of the summer, she'll be brave enough to try a few more things... Gracie likes to spend a lot of her time in a baby pool by the side of the real pool, or swinging in a kid's porch swing. She'll come into the pool some, but wants to cling to my side, even if she has a floaty on. She likes me to take her "fimming" with me and swim back and forth across the pool hanging on to me. (Ben and I were wondering why Chloe & Gracie are both fearful about the water, when their friends are all over the place, and having a great time?? We're hoping that in time they'll grow out of it, because Ben and I both LOVE to be in the water). Julia on the other hand loves every minute of being in the water. She loves to splash the water, and when she's in her turtle floaty, she'll kick her feet so hard that her whole floaty is bouncing and she actually moves through the pool that way!

So, here are a few pictures of our swim outing today...


Chloe & Corrinn towing the babies, Julia and Jocelyn & Gracie in the little pool.



Corrinn, Serena, & Chloe & Chloe with her mask

Gracie swinging in the swing, and Gracie & Chloe lounging