Swimming Lessons

Since my little girl loves the water and has no fear of just jumping in, I decided that swim lessons were in order this summer.  Luckily, my cousins teach a class at their house a mile from my house, so no grand research project was in order.

Emmy loved all the attention and getting to swim like a big girl with Kayela and Kelley without her puddle jumper.  She may not have gotten super high marks on following instructions, and there were a few meltdowns over the course of the ten lessons...but we weathered the storm.

This was the first day when Kelley was teaching Emmy about using her "cups" to move the water.



Emmy wasn't super excited about putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles at first, but she caught on in no time.



These two were great at working fun games and breaks into the lesson.



She practiced floating as well.







Her kicks weren't strong enough in the beginning, so she needed to drill that skill.



She loved holding her breath and going underwater.



And then popping back up to scare us.



Eventually she was even swimming under water a little.





With plenty of breaks to jump into the pool.



These two did a fantastic job with Emmy this summer, and I can't wait to see how she changes over the next few summers because we will definitely be back! :)

Dance Moms: Season 1

Because Julie and I are glutton for punishment, we decided that we should enroll Emmy & Abby in a two day dance camp here in town.  In theory, it sounded like a great idea.  For $25 dollars, the girls would get to go to dance camp for two mornings and leave with valuable dancing experience and a t-shirt to boot.  Needless to say, that is not exactly how it went down in reality.



They were probably a little too young for an undertaking like this, so we spent both mornings feeling embarrassed by our two bad little divas that ran around the dance studio while everyone else participated and followed along.  In fairness to the divas, the class had children ranging from three to 18, so it wasn't as if anyone expected the fifteen-year-old kids to be running around the room.





They sure knew how to rock snack time though!



Back to goofing off!



The people were all very nice, but in the end, we decided to put everyone out of their misery and we left early the second day and took the girls swimming.



This is definitely more our style.







For now Dance Moms: Season One is on hiatus, but there  may be a new show on the horizon.  Stay tuned for Gymnastics Moms: Season One on a Facebook feed near you soon!

Gulf Shores Vacation 2014 {Emmy's Photoshoot}

We did not get a photo shoot appointment for Emmy's three year photos. In the hustle and bustle and I never located a new photographer that I liked and wasn't thousands of dollars. So I decided to use the great locale that we had right outside of our front door--at the beach house-- and take a few photos. I had my new lens with me, and I must say that I am not disappointed with it. I can't use it with big groups, but one-on-one it is perfection.

 I wanted to be able to do a couple of different outfits, but I knew that the golden hour light at the beach was fleeting at best, so we took photos several nights while we were there.  Since dressing a three year old is pretty simple, it worked out wonderfully.

Her first outfit was a gift from Brad's grandmother.  I think it looks like something a house wife from another era would have worn when going out to play bridge with the ladies or something.  I love it!  You will notice that there is a pink dolphin bracelet gracing her wrist.  That was her prize for a job well done during family photos, and she "did not wish" to take it off.









She likes to pose, but she is silly sometimes too.









The sun was still a little harsh by the dunes, but she wanted a picture by the fence.  It should be apparent right now that two people think they are in charge at my house.  I am not currently sure if it is Emmy or myself that is delusional.











When she sat down in the dirt, the Mom in me mind shouted, "THAT'S A BRAND NEW DRESS!!" But the photographer in me said, "It'll wash, and it's pretty cute."  We went with it.











The next day, she wanted to wear the coral dress that Nana bought for her.  I think the way this color pops on the beach might be my favorite.







I love the color pops from the beach houses in the background.







She's got her daddy's big blue eyes.













She took more photos, but I think I have reached the max that any one post should have (probably passed it around 20 photos ago).  Thanks for sticking around to the end if you are reading this.  You're a good sport.