Week/end 8 - Writing, swimming, Caleb's 28!

A few weeks ago Samuel and I decided he'd have a goal of learning to write "SAM" before we left New Jersey. It took about 4 days! I didn't realize he was so ready to write! He really enjoys it. We've up-ed the goal to finishing both his number and letter tracing books before we leave NJ.

Sam's very first time writing his name! 7/8/13

We had a couple weeks of really hot weather! I thought that was normal NJ summer weather but apparently it was unusually hot. We loved it since we have a pool at our apartment complex. We were there every day, and Samuel even started swimming without his floaties! It is SO fun to see him learn new things. I love swimming with the kids because it's something I really enjoy. We do a lot of "pretend" stuff each day. Like we'll go outside and pretend to shoot animals, etc. But I'm not really the type to love pretending. I remember noticing that about myself when I was little. So I do it with the kids, but I'm having to force myself to do it. But with swimming I don't have to pretend or force anything, it's just a blast for all of us. And the kids eat and sleep well after swimming which I love. We went to the pool a few times in the evenings with Caleb too which was fun.

 

Thursday July 18th was Caleb's birthday! We had Erin (another J&J intern) over for dinner with her husband which was really fun. His birthday present is a date to a Broadway show. Hopefully I can make it happen before we leave!

Friday July 19th we drove to Horsham, PA with Caleb. He had some meetings there so we thought we'd tag along then head to Philadelphia and spend Saturday there. It was SO hot on Friday and was going to be just as hot on Saturday that we decided spending all day walking around in Philadelphia with the kids wasn't a good idea. We headed home.

Horsham, PA. We played at this park until we couldn't stand the heat anymore, then went and found a pool and swam!

Saturday afternoon (7/20) we had a BBQ at our pool with the Harts and Frandsens from our ward which was really fun. So glad we decided to come home. It really is all about people and relationships! It would've been cool to see Philadelphia, but it was definitely more enjoyable and meaningful to get together with friends and build stronger bonds.