Swimming in the Summertime

Summer 2010 was a big swim summer. Not that we did more swimming this summer than other summers but this was the year of two big breakthroughs.
The first was that with one notable exception where Bob almost killed Jacqueline, this was the summer that taking the girls to the pool was not at all stressful and it only required one parent.

This made for a more flexible weekend where we managed to get some workouts and some relaxation too. Well, now that I think about it the relaxation option only really seemed to be for me since sometimes Bob would take the girls himself and I would relax (to be fair, I also paid bills and blogged some...).
This is Jacqueline demonstrating how mom thinks about relaxation.
The pool was also a place for the girls to socialize with other kids taking lessons at similar times. This worked out very nicely.

The second big breakthrough was even more important (for mom). This was the swim season where mom was not required to wear swimwear! You got it -- I could safely watch the girls from the side of the pool staying fully clothed! While I was not yet ready to leave them to the lifeguard to watch them, it is a lot more relaxing to attend to swim lessons when you are not actually in the pool. No water in your eyes, no kids kicking you in the gut -- really big.

I now love swim lessons. That hasn't been true since I was a kid myself -- yay!

Legoland 2010

After hearing about Legoland for years we finally got ourselves a trip. It was a nice cool summer day and all the rides were well suited for ages 4 and 7.

There were too many photos to count of cool Lego statues and objects but Harry Potter certainly had to make the cut.


Ashton had to demonstrate not only how to captain the boats but also how to strike a pose.
A very little bit of sisterly love. This was mixed in with a huge amount of sisterly strife, I somehow chose not to snap photos of that!
Jacqueline checking out her future home for size.
Ashton and Dante conspiring on how to get rid of her annoying sister. This was a big theme of the weekend for sure.

Life's a Beach

For my birthday weekend we took a quick trip to San Diego to see Dante's new digs. Living just blocks from the beach is a pretty good life we discovered.

Shockingly the weather was not too great, a bit overcast and cool for July but the kids certainly didn't mind.

The adults also managed to relax -- here is Bob watching the kids.
and Caren watching the waves


and Max reading a book...

Little did we know that this relaxing day would end with a stressful finale as Max and Caren found themselves with a huge hassle in Menlo Park waiting for them including fire trucks and lots and lots of smoke and fire damage. Luckily no one was hurt but certainly not the relaxing weekend we were intending to have!