Weekend in the pines

Another photo-heavy tale for your (I hope) enjoyment.

Friday after the girls' art camp, we headed Northeast, out of the Valley and into the land of the tall pines...we strapped the kiddos in the rental van (felt just a little self-righteous about my four harnessed kids), passed out snacks, and drove for four hours through Payson and Show Low into Pinetop.

Thanks to Beth and a friend with a "cabin," we stayed in high style...three bedrooms, two baths, and seclusion in the trees made for lots of outdoor play, and good sleep for all.

Check out the back yard:

Saturday morning, the kids feasted on watermelon,

played horseshoes,

then went traipsing down to a small pond nearby, hoping to find some some creatures..

We saw a couple lizards, some gorgeous roses, a faux-teepee, but no fish.

Since we lost the back-rider to a nap (Kindercarry toddler-sized mei tai, for those who care), we recharged at the cabin and waited for Beth and her crew to return, before heading to a stocked pond for some trout fishing!

Clara caught a couple fish

and had a ball...I think she'll have to try some real fishing in Alaska next month!

Oliver had fun taking care of his cousins while the big kids were catching dinner:

He has become this super-sweet, kiss-giving, attentive "big kid" around the babies...it's amazing to watch!

We played at a playground for a while - a rare treat for Phoenix kids in the summer - before heading back to the cabin for dinner. On the short drive, we lost Evelyn...for the rest of the night!

She slept in her seat from about 5 to 7 (another impossibility here in the Valley, with the heat), at which point I moved her into the house (sure she'd wake up)...and she STAYED ASLEEP until almost 7 the next morning!

Shocking.

Meanwhile, the other three kept busy...

Liam the corn-shucker (must have been the Iowa conception),

and next golf pro;

Oliver the charming blond,

who discovered the giant marshmallows;

and Clara, the sharp-shooter

and master baby-carrier.

Sunday morning we headed farther East and ended up in the White Mountain Apache Reservation, at Hawley Lake (elevation 8200 ft). The kids love catching crawdads/crayfish (catch and release only in this house), so we set them loose on the shore with nets and buckets.

Daddy helped catch and play show-and-tell:

(This mama doesn't DO crustaceans (nasty arachnid-like creatures). Blech.)

 

Beth and Memo joined us, bringing along fishing poles and worms...so the new fisher-girl put her skills to work (no bites, but lots of effort).

Finally, we finished the day with a family picture (thanks Beth)! 

Just for kicks...the progression:

Most of us

Coaxing Mr. Three to come join us...even if takes jumping like a frog over 

every.

single.

rock.

But Look! Payoff! 

Six Basses, ONE picture!

We drove home via the strip-mining pit lovely town of Globe...and not too far outside of the town, we pulled off the road for a potty break...I was just strapping back in with the girls while daddy had a turn...when Elfie exclaimed, "BEAR!"

Sure enough, not 30 feet behind Dan stood a black bear, staring straight at us. I knocked on my window, and  in utter shock pointed behind him...Dan turned, the bear got one look and bounded off back into the woods. We had just been talking about bear safety on the drive to the lake that morning...so it was a fun final chapter to the weekend's adventures!

My language pet peeve

OK, make that plural. I don't mean to offend my readers, but these particular common grammatical errors simply drive me nuts. I won't correct you in your own space, but I will use my space to let go my frustration with some very, very common mistakes.

1. Ending sentences with prepositions. I will admit, anything ending with "at" curls my toes and sends sparks flying from ear to ear, with plumes of smoke oozing out of my head. Other prepositions may not evoke such a strong response, but any sentence ending with "at" kills me.

bad: Where's the party at?

good: Where is the party?

bad: Where did you get that at?

good: Where did you get that?

OK, I don't really usually talk like this either, I admit. But for the sake of my argument:

bad: Who did you go with?

good: With whom did you go?

2. Spkng in txt tlk 4 no rEsn. If you are texting, OK. If you are typing, or sending an email, or god-forbid, using a pen, PLEASE spell out the words!

But I admit, in my twisted mind, LOL is completely acceptable, in casual communication.
Actually, so is the over-use of smilies, and faux-html such as ::giggle:: and ::grin::


::bag::

3. Misused apostrophes and quotation marks. I know I'm not alone with these, thanks to these websites:

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

4. Misuse of its/it's, there/they're/their, who's/whose, and your/you're.

Let's make it simple:

its = possessive = Put everything in its place.

it's = it is = It's a lovely day.

There = a place = I've been there!

They're = they are = They're being annoying.

Their = possessive = That is their car.

Who's = who is = Who's at the door?

Whose = possessive = I don't know whose shoes are in the hallway.

Your = possessive = It's your turn.

You're = you are = You're welcome.

Remember: the apostrophe is making a contraction, or combining two words.

 it's = it is; you're = you are; they're = they are; who's = who is. 

See? 

(I just have to add, contraction is a very strange grammar word for me...)

5. LIKE.

"it's like, hot outside!" 

"We were like, walking to the store, and like this guy like stopped the car and was all like, hey you..." 

Uh huh. Drives.Me.BATTY. 

I make a point of repeating back to my kids their "like" statements...

"Oh really, you were like at the library?" 

They are getting pretty good about self-correcting now (who wouldn't, with a mother harping every time you say anything)...I know I'm guilty of falling into the like-brigade...and it drives me nuts to hear myself. So do us all a favor, and ban that word...please?! The less I hear it, the less I say it...

That's my rant for the night. 

L8R, G8R

Swimming

When we became an Arizona family with a backyard pool, we were very concerned that the kids get water-safe sooner, rather than later. The girls took (indoor) lessons as soon as we moved here, and spent lots of time in the pool that first year:

We thought we'd start even earlier with our first Arizona-born babe:

(one month)

We continued the insta-swimming trend with Oliver:

(five months)

The girls caught on to swimming quickly - between the lessons they took here, and the lessons they had in Homer over the summer, they both ended up with some great strokes and impressive skills...

Hoping for the same for the boys, a friend told me of some private, backyard pool lessons that her daughter took, so we signed Liam up for a four-week session. It was still COLD when he started, and he wasn't too pleased with it for the first few classes (three days a week)...but he soon caught on and ended up doing great!

I will say, these were not your happy-happy, make sure no kid is upset kind of lessons. From day one, Ms. Shellie had them underwater, diving through a hoop

getting rings

and jumping into the water

And you know what? It worked. It worked REALLY well!

So we decided for session two to put Oliver in the lessons as well...it was a tough decision to make, as he is my baby...and he's "Jolly Ollie," and I really didn't want to make him miserable. 

I should have given him more credit! 

The first day, he was not so happy to go to a stranger and be put under the water...he would climb out and come snuggle under a towel with me...content. Every time it was his turn, he would voice his displeasure, and again would stop before he went under, and as soon as his turn was over. 

You know something, I really don't even think it was the water that was making him sad...it was still COLD that entire first week! He was shivering, and that made him sad :(

He was smiley and hard to keep away from the pool at the end, once he was warm...

Sure enough, by week two, he was sitting happily on the steps, splashing with the other kids while waiting his turn. He went from a floater and turner to a kicking, moving, side-grabbing, ring-nabbing water monster! 

He LOVES IT!

Oliver jumps (even off a diving board - ours is long gone though)

and he kicks and reaches underwater (I wouldn't call it freestyle quite yet ;))

 

And most of all, he is hard to keep above the surface in his quest for rings...seriously, the kid is a ring-diving fiend!

 

See the glee?

I hope to continue some lessons in Homer in July...or at least when we return...but then again, the boys now have a great foundation - and more importantly, I know what they can do, so when I get in the pool with them, we keep practicing...

On a side note, there was a girl in the second session who had taken ISR lessons last year. She is just two years old, and the kid can actually freestyle across the pool. I was blown away. 

I used to have issue with non-happy-happy swim lessons. After all, why would I force my kid to do something he doesn't like? Why would I let a stranger do something I wouldn't do to him?

You know something? 

I changed my mind. 

We live in a state where water safety is paramount. Actually, you could argue this is valid for anybody.

I don't mess around with car safety - the kids may not always like their 5-point harnesses, and may be the only six-year-olds around still in them...but I.DON'T.CARE. I know it's the safest option, research shows it's the safest option...and 

I don't let their complaints compromise their safety. 

I think kids and pools deserve the same respect...so I am very happy I listened to my friends' recommendations for these lessons, and have two young boys who stand a fighting chance at not drowning if they happen to find open water...and besides that, it turns out, I can hardly keep these two OUT of the water now! They were not traumatized, or turned against swimming, or made fearful of the pool...quite the contrary. They both BEG to go swim many times every day. Now THAT is another whole issue, since *I* don't like to go in the pool 10 times a day...