Summer Swimming

We spent a lot of time at the pool this July since both of the girls took lessons.  They asked everyday if they could go to swimming and gained so much confidence in the water.  Swimming was my sport at one time and it is fun for me to see the girls enjoy it while improving their skills.

Also, the cover-ups, flip flops, matching suits and swim caps are just too cute.

 

 Haven was obsessed with watching Anna when she was not swimming herself.

   

 Anna started to learn how to do strokes side breathing.

 

 Haven's lessons focused on skills as well as safety, and she learned how to turn to her back to breath and then kick to the side of the pool.

 

The swimming pool has also been a sanctuary of sorts for me this summer.  It is such a good exercise when you are pregnant because you don't even feel pregnant (except when you have to heave yourself out of the pool if the lane with the ladder is taken).  I really have not had much discomfort during this pregnancy and I attribute it to swimming.  I read that the breaststroke especially helps to strengthen muscles that can counteract the misalignment that can occur as your body changes during pregnancy.  Also, it increases oxygen flow to the baby and I've noticed that he gets more active when I'm in the pool.  I'm so thankful for the YMCA pool and childcare!

Scenes of Summer

This summer has been pretty laid back with lots of little activities around Fort Worth rather than any big family trips or kids camps.  It has been the perfect way to spend the last few months as we wait for baby brother to join the family.  

Back in June, Anna went to Vacation Bible School for the first time and had a great experience.  Her cousins Marcus and Lucas and her friend Andrew also went, which made it more comfortable for her since it was not at the church we go to.  She still sings some of the songs and the other day when I mentioned I was worried about something she quoted a song and told me "mom, don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything". 

When Monsters University first came out, Brad really wanted to take the girls to see their first 3D movie.  We talked it up for a week and they were so excited to go.  Well, we have two sensitive little girls who aren't used to watching movies on the big screen.  They got scared by all the action and loud noises during the previews and then after the way they reacted when a dragon appeared about 10 minutes into the movie, we knew we couldn't stay.  We came home and watched a Tinkerbell movie and they were happy as could be. 

Anna's school was open for six weeks this summer and she went on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It was nice to have that alone time with Haven since she will be a middle child soon.  In July, they learned about the United States, so on one of the last days had a Red, White and Blue Parade. 

We made it out to our favorite spot in Fort Worth, Burger's Lake and the girls loved it.  For the next week, Haven asked everyday if she could go swimming at Burger's Lake.  This is the closest we will get to sandy beaches this summer, so Brad and the girls built a sand castle.  Hopefully, we will get to go a couple more times this summer.

 One day we met up with all the Bruce cousins to paint pottery at a cute, reasonably priced little studio that Aunt Courtney found.  Two year olds and four year olds definitely have different approaches to painting pottery. :)  Afterwards, we ate lunch at Subway and were quite the scene with three moms (one who was very pregnant) and nine kids between us.  We got lots of stares and a few comments like "you've got a whole soccer team there".

 

 

 

We have been reading all summer and have taken advantage of the reading programs at Half-Price Books and Barnes and Nobles to get free books.  We have also been going to our very favorite library in downtown Fort Worth where the girls read, and play with puzzles, blocks, puppets and dress-up clothes.  The best part is, it is never crowded.  

 After Haven goes down for a nap, Anna and I have been reading chapter books together before her quiet time.  She keeps track of what chapter we are on each time and sometimes asks to sleep with the book we are reading.  One of her favorites was Beezus and Ramona.  After the first chapter she told me "I like Beezus the best, I don't really like Ramona".  This comment was so funny to me because knowing how her little personality is developing, I wasn't at all surprised by it. 

 

 

 

We are lucky to live near the Cultural District of Fort Worth and have gone to a few of the free family friendly events that have been put on by a couple of the museums.  One evening, Gigi, Anna and I watched a Ballet Concerto performance at an outdoor theatre on the Trinity River.  I love events like this!

 The girls have really benefitted from my pregnancy cravings (or just an excuse for lack of self-control) and have had more gelato, frozen yogurt, blizzards and milkshakes this summer than they ever will again! 

 Of course, some of the best moments of this summer have been those spent just hanging out at home and in the backyard (until it reaches 100 degrees and the mosquitos come out!).

Daddy Daughter Time

Brad wanted to go camping in the backyard with Anna for a few months and picked a cool day in May to do it before it got too hot.  They had so much fun and Anna still talks about the time she went camping with daddy.  It was a good practice run and hopefully the whole family can do some real camping one of these days.

 She was very interested in the whole process of camping and helped set everything up.

 Eventhough Anna and Brad had talked about just the two of them going camping together, she didn't mind Haven hanging out reading books and eating smores.

 

 

 I snuck out to the tent around 9:30 that night and found them reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by flashlight.

 I had my doubts that she would sleep outside all night since she was just a few feet away from the house, but she surprised me and did with no problems! 

Haven and I joined them in the morning for breakfast that daddy made on the grill.

I think her smile in this pic perfectly sums up what she thought of her first camping experience.

On Father's Day when Brad has his pick of doing anything he wanted, he chose to take the girls bowling for the first time.  I chose to sit this activity out since Brad and I had been bowling on a date night the week before.  I discovered that bowling just isn't as fun when you are in your third trimester. 

 

 First a quick lesson.

 Including a demonstration...love how the girls are so observant of the things he does.

 

 Then it was their turn...

 Anna's expressions and excitement were priceless to watch.  As long as at least one pin fell, there was a full out celebration.

 

 Little Haven cracked us up because she insisted on carrying the heavy ball and rolling it ALL BY HERSELF! 

 

 

 It was a fun experience, but on the way home Brad said that it was a lot more work than he expected!  Isn't that so true when it comes to raising children, more work than we expect but so worth it and more rewarding than we can imagine.

Paradise

In May, Brad and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Cozumel for five days with just the two of us! 

This time together as a couple was so needed and very refreshing.

I've been describing the trip as the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure.

We found a good deal on Living Social and stayed at an all inclusive resort called Hotel Park Royal.

The infinity pool overlooking the ocean.

Perhaps my only complaint was the small beach area.  Although most people preferred to lounge by the pools, so the beach was never crowded.  It did have a nice little reef that we snorkeled and were surprised by all that we saw.

One night we came back to our room and enjoyed this little surprise.

Overall the food did not disappoint.  When I was researching hotels, if there were several negative comments about the food, I crossed it off the list.  I normally don't take pics of food, but the presentation warrented it this time. 

The first day we were there, someone convinced us to attend a membership presentation (very similar to a time share).  We have always said no to offers like this in the past, but with the promise of a free snorkeling excursion for two hours of our time, we agreed.  It actually wasn't that bad and they didn't pressure us as much as I expected.  I was still uncomfortable the whole time knowing we weren't going to purchase their deal.  To my surprise, my husband really enjoyed the whole experience and like trying to be convinced to buy.

A couple hours later we were on a glass bottom boat headed out to snorkel three different areas.  We saw starfish, baracuda, sea turtles and countless species of tropical fish.  The diversity of sealife and visibility of Cozumel for the price from Texas cannot be beat! 

The next day we went to Chankanaab National Park to swim with manatees.  I booked this excursion weeks before we traveled and was really looking forward to it.  When I was little, I was obsessed with manatees and remember checking out every book in the library about them one summer.  I think I was drawn to them because they are so sweet, gentle and playful.  When we went to Florida a couple years ago, I asked several locals were we could see some manatees and drug Brad and and Anna all over the place looking for them.  We never found them.  The point is, I was excited to actually have the opportunity to swim with them. 

You can imagine my disappointment when they saw my belly and said I wasn't allowed to be in the water with them since I was pregnant (this restriction was not on their website).  Brad, bless his heart, tried his hardest to persuade them because he knew how badly I wanted to do it.  We were like "come on, this is Mexico, doesn't anything go here?".   

Well, I was able to watch from the ledge as Brad and the trainer were in the water with two manatees for a whole hour.  Brad got to snorkel with them, feed them (like 6 heads of romaine lettuce), and just play with them.  He swam them over to as close to me as he could get.  It was definitely an experience he will never forget.

Although they didn't think it was safe for me to get into the water with a docile manatee, they did allow me to do the dolphin encounter program.  I'll admit, I was still sulking a little about the manatees, but little did I know what the Lord would have in store for me!

During the dolphin encounter, they bring you into the pen with like 12 other people who came straight off a cruise ship and have you take a bunch of cheesy photos with the dolphin in an attempt to get you to buy the very overpriced pics.  Out of the 23 dolphins at the park, I happened to get the one who was a mommy with a 4 month old baby.  

As the trainer was bringing Amaya around to each person for photo ops, he mentioned in passing that she could hear the baby's heartbeat.  At first I thought he was talking about her own baby, but he was looking in my direction.  I asked if she could hear MY baby's heartbeat.  He brought her over to me and she put her ear right on my belly and stayed very still for about a minute.  Then she started making little noises.  The trainer said she had picked up the heartbeat and was sending sonar waves indicating she had detected the baby.  I got tears in my eyes as this happened.  Later, he even brought her over a second time because it thought it was so neat.  It was amazing to bond with an animal mother in this way, and just a sweet gift from God to let me have that experience.  Here is a youtube video I found that talks about dolphins detecting human pregnancy.  

One thing I appreciated most about this trip were the long stretches of uninterupted time.  I was even able to read 2.5 books.

My favorite part of the trip was just getting to be with HIM.  

After 9 years of marriage, I felt like we were newlyweds again!

On the trip, I talked to three different older couples whose kids were grown.  It was neat to hear about their travels and adventures and made me look forward to that phase in our own marriage.  Of course, I don't want to speed up time and wish these precious years with little ones away.  It just reminds me that our family started with just the two of us and will one day be that way again. 

I started reading the book Sacred Marriage:  What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy on the trip and cannot recommend it enough.  It was just good for me to hear this perspective during this season in our marriage. 

I haven't been documenting many belly shots, so I figured I would throw in this one of me at almost 24 weeks.

One last shot before we left for the airport.

On the plane ride home, I told Brad that we stayed the perfect amount of time and as much as I enjoyed being in paradise, I realized that our little home was a paradise of its own.  I was looking forward to returning to it.  (Side note: it has been a few weeks since I made that comment and I'm not sure I still stand by it. haha:)

When we got home, my mom and the girls were waiting outside for us.  Anna ran over to me and jumped into my arms and gave me the biggest hug.  Haven put her arms around Brad's neck and would not let go for what seemed like several minutes.  It was such a sweet moment.  

All of it would not have been possible without the help of Grandy, Appy and Gigi.  We are truly thankful to have grandparents who live so close and are so caring.  While we thought about the girls on our trip, we never once worried about them.