Kate Swims!

Kate had a couple of swim sessions at the YMCA a couple of years ago, which I didn't feel were particularly productive.  This summer we decided to sign her up for Real Live Every Day Swimming Lessons.  In these past four weeks she's suddenly transformed into a little fish.

The day that she learned how to open her eyes under water, she came running out of the pool yelling, "I LOVE SWIMMING LESSONS!"  She was just so excited and so proud of herself.  We dug out the goggles (which, as I recall, were originally purchased with the hope of alleviating some of the hair-washing drama at bath time) and now she likes to stay under even longer, because it's so cool. 



We got some video for her last day.  Lessons are at Kandle Pool, which has a wave generator.  They don't normally have the waves on during swimming lessons, but they turn them on for a bit on the last day of the session.  (Exciting!)



Kate heads into the pool.



She's getting pretty good at this!



Kate's teacher counts a ten-second front float.




Molly Beecher was in the session right after ours, and we got to see her every day as she was coming in and we were going out. Molly has a couple different swimsuits, and one matches Kate's (so of course I had to get a picture).




The zero-depth entry pool is fun because the kids can practice in the really shallow water.  I wish they'd had something like that when I was growing up!



Kate doing her "Underwater Flying Dragon" impression.



Quite a long way from the girl who didn't want to get in the water when she was little!  It's been great for her to have this experience of learning something new and practicing and getting to be good at it, and enjoying it! 

gastropodus visitorius

Behold the lowly slug, who spreads a shiny trail of happiness behind him wherever he goes!



We like to poke slugs (gently) in the eye stalk, and then yell, "AAAAGH!  MY EYE!"  as they retract.  I promise it's hilarious. 





Kate was quite thrilled when this little slug crawled onto her hand, but discovered an inconvenient fact--that slime is hard to wash off!

Jessica Beecher said that her ducks would like to eat Kate's slug.  I told her Kate would certainly disapprove.  Sluggy stayed with us overnight in a jar, and then returned to the great outdoors.

Cosmos and Cold Noodles

We went down to Lakewood to get some Korean lunch for my coming-home-from-mission anniversary day. And since we were out of kim (seaweed), we had to stop by Paldo World first to get some. Outside Paldo World was this big stand of cosmos flowers. Cosmos always make me think of Korea in the fall.  It's not quite fall here yet--we've just barely had our Pacific Northwest Summer, during which everyone is miserable for about a week or so because no one has air conditioning here, and then it goes back to normal. 



I got some naeng myun at Chung Ki Wa. By this point the warm weather had broken and Saturday was rather cool, but I'd been thinking about cold noodles all week so I went ahead and got some anyway. (As it turned out it was not the best naeng myun I've had... I like Chung Ki Wa but they seem rather inconsistent. It had apple slices in it instead of pear. I've never seen that.)



The kids mostly ate lots of rice and kim, and whatever else we could tempt them with. I gave Kate the half-a-hard-boiled-egg out of my naeng myun. She has recently discovered that she likes hard boiled eggs. (We hardly ever make them. Doug is not a fan.)



I also got some kimchi jjigae to go, to take home and eat for leftovers. It's always better the next day!



Here I am at Dae Dun San, in Korea, surrounded by cosmos (looks like some daisies in there too).  This was taken in early October, 1992. 

Basket Case

We use this plastic basket when we go to the pool or the beach.  Andy found another use for it. 

Five Little Ducks

The Beechers invited us over to see their ducklings and rabbits.  They have their own little backyard menagerie.





Kate gets to hold a duckling.




The ducklings are Khaki Campbells. Aren't they cute?

Andy counted them--"One, two, three, four, five!  Five ducks!"





Andy thinks the ducklings might like a crayon.
 



They run around on the lawn (with supervision, of course) always keeping together in a flock. Safety in numbers!




Andy and Asher on the trampoline.




More bunny snuggles.



Our own animal experiences have mostly been limited to things that fit in bug jars, so it's fun to be able to spend some time with friends' animals!

Wildwood Park

Wildwood Park in Puyallup has this gorgeous little spot with a playground next to a shallow stream. We were out there a couple of weeks ago and loved it, so we went back with some Primary friends (from church) and took the camera.



Andy tip-toeing into the cold water.



The bank on the other side of the stream has this cool network of exposed roots (lots of erosion from years of climbing children, I'm sure). The whole place just makes a lovely setting. It actually reminded me of a cross between Korea and John Bryan State Park where I grew up in Ohio. (But without the humidity.)



Getting some help from Daddy.



Kate had a bit of seed fluff (like the kind you'd get from a milkweed plant) that she was playing with, and she was quite distraught when she dropped it and couldn't find it.





Andy, framed.

I ended up taking more pictures of the other kids than of my own. Here are a few:






We took along some lunch. I've discovered that it's difficult to get the kids to stop playing long enough to eat. Maybe next time we'll have them eat in the car.