Xander and Clare

Xander ready for his first swim lesson.

In retrospect, I now see the glimmer of fear in his eyes.
He did not enjoy his swim lessons last week,
to put it mildly.

We had one really hot day, and the kids smartly
stayed in the shade while playing outside.

Day two of swim lessons.

Clare and I got to play in the pool while X
worked with his instructor Lauren.

Writing a note of apology to Lauren after his third swim lesson
went, well, not very well.

Jade in the batter's box and X swinging at the plate.

The field he's playing on during summer season is fantastic:
a real dugout, chalked lines, very professional. Xander loves it.

Clare loves running on the bleachers.

Clare and Axel played a fun game where you collect all
the little rocks you can find and plunk them down into the drain.

Saturdays have basically become library day, which is awesome.

Checking out! This week we're reading
"The Mouse and the Motorcycle" out loud.

X asked me to take his picture up against the white background
of the fridge, so it could be his Mariner team photo.

Another version, taken with my camera phone.

X was at musical story theater camp every day this week,
so on Tuesday Clare and I enjoyed a morning of fun downtown,
starting with breakfast at the Bread Peddler.

Apparently she wanted to explore the dingy back alleys
of downtown Oly.

Mommy just wanted to do some quick shopping
for perfume at Archibald Sisters.

Next stop: the Hands On Children's Museum!

It was a fun week, but strangely quiet without X around.

A couple rough video snippets from camp:

Musical Story Theater camp from stacee on Vimeo.

Musical Story Theater camp from stacee on Vimeo.