Swimming Lessons, Jordan Lake, Tea Parties and Swiss Visitors, Oh MY!

Well, we have reached beyond the half way point in our summer and boy am I a busy mama!  I wanted to share some of the many things we have been up to, but I am way behind on my blogging since we have been having so much fun!!  Enjoy!

Here is Connor in his swimming lessons.  He is working so very hard.  This boy will jump off of anything and has no fear, but doggie paddling is quite the challenge for this future line backer...

The swim instructors are very patient with him and he is so cute to watch.  Just yesterday they told him to swim to the wall...he started swimming to the wall and used his height to his advantage and touched the bottom of the pool, walking to the side.  The swim instructor said, "What are you doing?" Connor replied, "I am walking on the bottom..."  Duh.  :)

The older kids have been so great (most of the time) at cheering Connor on.  Here they are watching him in his lesson.

Connor and Emmie enjoying watermelon!

Connor's sour face.  He is getting more and more resistant to me taking pictures!!

Sweet and happy Lindsay Jane!!

Landon and Sophia pausing for a smile while eating the delicious pizza that we have delivered from the kitchen at the JCC.  Yum and easy!

This little fellow LOVES to eat!!!

Picnic with our buddies, poolside.  :)

Another favorite of my little smiler.

Connor playing with the water shooters at the JCC.

Sometimes it is so awesome just to sit and watch the way kids figure things out. :)

Landon and Sophia in their lesson.  Now, this boy can tread water for 60 seconds and swim the length of the pool (earning his green band) but he does NOT like to get his head under water...so that green band will get him a ticket off the diving board but he will not go off.  I even went off to try to get him to do it!!!  Haven't done that in years!  Hopefully by the end of our summer Landon will jump off!!

Lindsay Jane with more smiles.

And...a temper tantrum.  This is just the most hilarious true to life picture.  There is a thunder policy at the JCC that is for safety.  It is so so hard, though, when you are their with your three little kids, one under the age of two...who does NOT understand why she cannot get into the water.  We tried and tried to keep these kids entertained during the 30 minute out of the pool breaks for thunder...but as you can see, we had an unhappy camper...

Ok, here's my girl...back to her smiles. :)

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And...Jordan Lake!  I can't believe we had never been!  We went with the Smiths and Janise's mom for the day a couple of Fridays ago.  It was a blast!  Definitely a treasure that I had not yet tapped into in our area!

Emmie and Lindsay Jane talking about lunch.

Zachary eating...did I mention that this boy loves to eat?

Sweet Lindsay Jane pausing for a smile, again.  Love her.

Sweet Zachary.  He is ALL boy and Lindsay Jane is ALL girl.  It is so funny after Janise had two girls and a boy and me the opposite to be experiencing these new worlds together!

My little one, enjoying the sand.

And, enjoying her little buddy, "Zackie".

Sophia and Landon.  Wow are they growing up.  It is just so hard to believe.

Fun times with such special friends.

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I just love these picture of Janise's mom, Helen, and the two little ones.  After we came home from the lake, the babies went to sleep for a nap and Janise, Helen and I shared coffee and cookies while the older kids played outside.  It was such a treat to enjoy wisdom from Helen as she shared advice and memories from her child rearing days.  I always love talking to Janise's mom, she is a true gem and always has a way of encouraging us weary mamas.

After the babies got up, Helen engaged them in Lindsay Jane's first tea party.  It was precious.  I just love how gentle Lindsay Jane was with the cups and how she just poured that tea and entered into her little girl make believe.  Zachary was happy to oblige in this type of play, having two older sisters. :)  It was also so sweet to see the generations in these pictures...sharing a treasure of timeless joy.  What a gift in so many ways.

We also had some visitors from Switzerland! Stan's best friend from middle and high school came to visit with his family.  It was such a nice time with such nice people and a reminder to me of how close Stan and Cedric were.  They get together and are just two peas in a pod.  I loved hearing all of their memories of Cedric's time here in the US as a teenager.  It was a lovely afternoon and great to see Stan with one of his dear friends from his childhood.  Hopefully we will get to go visit them in Switzerland next!

There is a quick update with many more to come!!  Hope you enjoyed!

My time with Two

This post is a little tardy...but that is how I roll with three.  I had the chance to spend a week with my two younger ones as Landon went on an adventure with Mommom and Pop after the beach trip.  It was really nice- esp with Connor- to be able to see him little personality shine without the influence, ridicule or competition from his older brother.  Here he is concentrating on building a tower out of sponges.

He had to switch positions here, moving to the other side of the table to better position the higher blocks.

So proud!  So nice to build without having to worry about them being knocked over by a silly big brother.

Connor and Lindsay having yogurt together and watching a little show.  It was really nice to see the bond these two built being together.

Playtime at the cabin!  We headed to the cabin on Thursday for the 4th of July and Stan headed to get Landon for the Cole boys camping trip.  Here they are playing with the basket of toys at Pop and Mommom's cabin.  The big cracker barrel checkers were cool for tower building.  And, again, they were not knocked over!!!

Happy 4th!

Sweet girl.  Love this little "cheese" face.  It is also one of the only times she let me put a bow in her hair- but she wouldn't let me adjust it.  :)

I tried to get a sweet picture by the flag but she is a busy little thing!

See...

Red, white and blue crew headed to Black Mountain and to search out some seafood for dinner!  Yes, I said seafood...in the mountains.  My parents have connections when it comes to Blue Crabs..

Unfortunately, we didn't get our blue crabs because of "Arthur" but we settled for Killians for lunch and shrimp and smoked salmon for dinner...

Lindsay loves ice cream!

So does my little bug. :)

Posing with Pop!

Then, we went back to the cabin and enjoyed a nap!  Yay!  And, I didn't have to help Landon figure out what to do during that time...When Lindsay Jane woke up, she was ready for the little pool.

Mommom joined her...then, we headed for the slip n slide!

Lindsay Jane loved it!!

Connor was under impressed...but then we went to the lake, his wish.  :)

See me in that lake...not a common occurrence... lots of things I do now are for the little ones.  I really hate getting in lakes, but I have done it twice this month and am getting ready to do it again this weekend! :)  Lindsay Jane absolutely loved loved the lake.  Connor did too.  What a treat to spend time with these two little monkeys.

We also got fresh corn to go with our smoked salmon...Lindsay Jane was quite a fan.  I mean, who wouldn't be!!

Sparklers!

This was our view of Lake Lure for the 4th.  You can't see from the picture, but there were tons of boats all lined up on the lake with red, white and blue lights, waiting for the firework display!

My dad was so happy!  He was worried that we wouldn't get to see fireworks...

Connor was trying to see the boats and was waiting as patiently as a 4 year old can for the fireworks to start!

So, we gave him another sparkler...to help with the waiting.  He was very impressed.

The next day, we headed to the gym and the park at Montreat for a picnic. I had two happy little campers.

Connor begged me to take this picture.  :)

Lindsay's sweet little look.

These two just loved their time at the park.  It was so sweet watching the two of them explore.  I got in on the fun too and chased them around a bit.  It was such a treat.

Cheese!  Two sweet smiles for mommy.

And two sweet smiles for Mommom!

Later that day, Stan and Landon arrived and we headed back to the lake.  Lindsay Jane was, again, a huge fan!  Made my mom so happy!

Mommom and Pop with my three.  :)

Happy lake baby!

Stan got out his kayak and pulled Connor around on the float, since Connor didn't get to go on the boys camping trip.

Landon swam out to check things out.  Don't worry, he was offered to get into the little raft, but the sibling rivalry started up right away...leading to a time out and a missed opportunity until an attitude was changed...

Landon considering getting in.

And, he decided not to, but my Connor was all smiles, enjoying his chance to be a big boy.  He can't wait to go on the boys camping trip too but Stan said, one more year.  That's ok by me.  I will have my two littles again next year.  :)

And...I love this one.  Connor told us that he missed his kitty cat and wanted me to take a picture of he and Midnight when we got home.  :)

I really treasured my time with my two little ones.  It was really nice to have Connor be able to bond with his sister and also with me- without any pressure to be older like his brother.

Landon also had a special time, which he really needed. My parents said he was very well behaved and really had a ball.  He got to see my brother, sister in law and niece in Maryland, got to go to Captain Billy's crab house- where I used to go when I was little, he went to a National's Baseball game, he met my dad and mom's older sisters, he swam with Pop and really had some special time to bond with my parents without the two little ones around!  He also got to go on his first Cole Boys Camping Trip, a treasured time for sure.  I love the legacy of strong men of faith in the Cole family that Landon is already getting to spend time with.

The week was a win-win for everyone.  What a blessing!

Hope you enjoyed!