Swim class number 4, went smoothly for all, until the end of Cash's class where he decided he was done with water getting in his ears. I really enjoy this swim class, SwimJim, it has an indoor pool, so its not shocking to get in the water like most pools. We signed them up for another month of swim, and maybe another after that? When they start growing gills, I might take them out.
Happy Kick, kick, kicking! With Dada and Ms. Regan
Patiently(sometimes more than others) waiting for her class. Yuliya has to watch her brother swim for a whole half hr before its her turn! She does pretty well, until about the 10 min mark and then I start counting down the minutes with her.
Swimming across the pool, she did so much better with this this time.
Diving in!
This is what Cash does while he waits for Yuliya to finish. CRACKERS!!!!
For as many times as I have watched the bats fly from under the bridge in Austin, I have never done it in Houston. So on Saturday night after welding class, Keith and I decided to check out the art in the montrose area while waiting for the sun to set and the bats to emerge from the bridge over the bayou at Waugh and Allen Parkway. I also had never seen the newest installments at the park up close, what a great thing to check out right after welding class!
I love this fountain, it reminds me of being a kid and blowing dandelions, making wishes
It was pretty toasty out, a few dogs jumped in to play :)
This is what happens when you weld without a UV mask on.
Just kidding, :) although I DID accidently look at the welding without a mask on once...eekk!
I like how it looks like they kind of melted out of the rocks
Now I know I just mentioned welding in 3 posts back to back but, here' is my last little interesting tid bit for now. We talked a little with John Barber about this art, and I found it pretty interesting that he mentioned he hasn't been able to find out who welded these guys, there is no mention of an artist anywhere on them. And being of the welding community I would think he could easily find out. Quite mysterious don't you think?
I did not take any pictures of the bats flying out for the night, but it was a pretty awesome sight if you ever find yourself in the montrose area at dusk. Those little monsters circle under the bridge for a good half hour bouncing from cubby to cubby before emerging. I imagined impatient mothers trying to wake their kids up and get them ready for school. "did you brush your teeth? go back and brush them!" "where are your shoes? oh lord, no clean socks?? We are going to be late!" Here's a video I found of them.
Now I notice the welds on EVERYTHING! On Saturday Keith and I took a welding class. It was a lot of fun, we actually got to do 4 different kinds of welding, arc, mig, plasma cutting, and brazing. Our class taught by John Barber, was very thorough, he gave us a great history and health lesson on welding. He taught at his adorable house in the heights decorated with some of his artwork. John and his wife were amazingly interesting, both artists John has worked for the zoo, and museums, scuplting artwork for them, and welding the cages for the dinasour bones at the museum of natrual science!
John's site http://www.johnbarberstudios.com/. If you have a chance to take the class, I recommend it, it was fun, challenging, requires patience and maybe a dust mask!
These are pics of Yuliya pumping up about swimming, and Cash pumping up about CRACKERS!!!
this is me waiting for coffee
Swim class is going better for Yuliya, I am hopeful she will dive underwater next time, as well as go down the slide. She's still a little timid but opening up. Cash seemed a little uptight today but he tends to be the more daring one, I think he was just having a "spell" ;)
Box racing!!! Cash really enjoyed watching, but was a little freaked when they would shriek.
Today we went to Aunt Tara's house and played with cousins Madison, Jackson, and Kaitlyn. Yuliya had a blast, playing with babies, books, tiny plastic toys that hurt when you step on them and you always seem to lose at least one piece. Jackson and Madison would occasionally do drive by's in the room the two girls were playing with riling everyone up into a short burst of screams. Cash found out that in the Lehr household, the less you play, the more they feed you!!! He had apples, pizza, yogurt, and plenty of water. Cash was pretty clingy, but he enjoyed watching his cousins from afar.
I found heaven in the form of a chair today. Heather and I spent a blissful lunch hour at Relax the Back. At first I was turned off by its color, but this is most definitely the best massage chair I have ever sat in. And yes I am the person that wants to stop by brookstone so we can sit in one of the chairs for a minute. So I feel qualified to say it! When the sales lady asked if we wanted to go for another 20 minutes I seriously hesitated, but work calls. This beaut is only $7,000 any takers?? :D
p.s. heather is going to kill me for posting this.....
Here are photos from the kids first swim class, they both pretty much had the same reaction, initially were not into it, being shy and afraid to do things on their own. Both ended up opening up by the end of class and having fun, I am hopeful for our next lesson this sunday.
P.S. There's always something unsettling about stepping into a lukewarm pool.
Not that excited at first, in fact trying to act like she's not going to learn anything b/c she's not paying attention
Cash's kung fu grip at the beginning of class, there was no convincing him to let go of me.
Finally after a few minutes of tossing toys and "swimming" to get them he relaxed enough to semi float while resting his head on my shoulder.
Oh the camera! Cheese!! I'm swimming! Check it out! Sudden interest in swim class :) 4 yr olds!
Even though she's an only child so far, I have a feeling Miss Alyssa will not have the carefulness and perfection of an only or oldest child. With all of her cousins, Madison, Jackson, Yuliya, Kaitlyn and Cash tackling her before she's able to walk, I think she might end up with the more laid back personality of a younger child. She seems to take them on well. Cash refuses to call her Alyssa, instead just addressing her as baby, said more like "baybeeee"
"baybee, watch this", "baybee you hungry?"(head cocked to the side)"baybee here ya ball"
Yuliya finally gets to dress a real life baby, thanks to her Aunt Amy, she was allowed to pick out Alyssa's outfit for the day, I think she did well :)
Again, sorry, for some reason I can not get my pictures to flip. Today I decided to give Cash a haircut on my own. So ladies and gentleman, this is my first at home haircut, on a model that refuses to sit still. I received 3 battle wounds during this process, from a quick head turn while I was in the middle of a snip resulting in cutting my knuckles open. He was very excited to have his hair cut once it was all over with.
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