Flying By

The summer is flying by.  We have made it through eight weeks of city swim lessons.

Then we made it through four weeks of survival swim.  I was so nervous about the survival swim, but I am so glad that we did it.  The progress they made from whining, complaining, yelling and crying to jumping off the diving board and swimming to the wall is amazing.  Of course they both have a lot of swimming skills to learn, but they can swim on their own, a good distance of the pool.

We spent our first Phoenix Fourth of July with Dan and Jamie, Norah and Eli.  It was unseasonably cool (under 100 degrees) and even rained a little bit.  I must be acclimating to my surroundings, because I was happy to see the rain.  A phenomenon I never would have understood in Chicago.

Cate dance class, which she loved, and Timmy's soccer class, which he did not love, are over and school starts for both in early August.  First, though, we leave on Wednesday for our first trip back to Chicago.  We are so looking forward to seeing everyone, to having ten solid days together, to an overnight in the city and, if you ask Tim, to hitting up every famous Chicago eatery.  We can't wait!

Fabulous Four

Last Sunday, my little Cate turned four.  It was a bit strange for us to be here, in Phoenix, far away from family, but we still had a fun day with our favorite four year old.

In the morning, we managed to squeeze in a Skype date with Mimi and Pop to open her presents from them.  One of her favorites was a great Doctor kit.  Right now she is using her playhouse as a "clinic".  She treats all of the stuffed animals and the animals from Noah's ark there.  If you are a willing patient, Cate is happy to see humans too, but a shot is a virtual guarantee at this clinic.

Timmy (whose massive mop of hair was cut later in the day), was not left out.  Mimi sent him a train for his Cars which he was very excited about.

After opening a few presents, we went out for breakfast and Cate got to have Minnie Mouse pancakes for her big day.

In the afternoon, we had a low key pizza and pool party with Norah and Eli and opened a few more gifts.  One of the nice things about having a pool is that even when you aren't organized enough to plan a great birthday and only know about four people, you can always have them over, get balloons and pizza and call it a pool "party."

I can't believe that Cate is already four.  It goes so fast!  She is such a funny, spirited little girl; I can't wait to see what this year will bring.  Happy Birthday, Cate!