Where in the World?

While Grandpa Seaton was on his trip around the world, he sent the boys lots of neat things. Jack's absolute favorite thing he received was a map on Mumbai. It has icons of statues and other tourist destinations that Jack thought were cool. 

Knowing how much time Jack spent with that Mumbai map, I set out to find a similar map of the United States. It became a frustrating search because every map I found that had icons was crazy expensive. I finally stumbled upon one on Rand McNally's site that was perfect, and they had one of the world too. 

I'm amazed by how much time the boys, especially Jack, spend studying these maps. I'm working on some sort of system to help them understand where our family and friends live as well as other places where we have lived. I'm thinking that I will have little wallet sized pictures of the people we love printed like the one of Jack below. This was a picture we just had on hand for a gift for Jack's gymnastics teachers. I'm going to replace it with one of the entire family. 

Right now I have Jack taking pictures of every place on the map that he would like to visit with his camera. By the sounds the camera is making, I would say our family better starting playing the lottery! 

I thank Grandpa for sparking this interest in Jack. It's something I don't think I would have thought of on my own. 

At The Pool

Our summer has started, which in the past couple of years has come to mean a lot of time at the pool for us. This morning we had our first break in the weather in several days. The boys and I were the first ones at the pool. Jack picked up right where he left off last summer. He has his own swim stroke. This summer he has added diving for objects to his bag of tricks. Luke is still wearing his turtle jacket. He's gotten pretty good at kicking, but he isn't too interested in putting his face in the water. I found a lifeguard who wants to earn a few extra bucks this summer by giving swimming lessons. She has taught at the Y, so I think she will do a nice job. It's so much fun to watch their delight in spending time at the pool. Unfortunately, after two hours of swimming today, I was the only one tired enough to nap! 

Rainy Day Fun

If you ask kids if they want to go for a puddle jumping walk, they will answer yes. They will have fun, so it may be hard to convince them to go home. They are definitely going to need to strip at the door and go straight to the bathtub. But, they will talk about the fun they had to each other in that bathtub. And, mom will smile as she thinks of their giggles during that puddle jumping walk for years to come although she may occasionally wish she had remembered the video camera.

Asleep With "Bow"

Jack's Gymnastics Show

Jack performed in his gymnastics show this afternoon. Below you will find a video of the class's floor exercise, Jack's tumbling pass, and his balance beam routine. I had a little camera trouble and missed his uneven bars routine. Oh well. 

His class, The Funny Bugs

Miss Kayla

Miss Cheyenne

Jack's favorite friend, Ella

Jack F. is our Jack.