Brr. Summer's gone.

It's been a bit brisk this week (even my Mom said it was cold and closed the windows of the house, which is a miracle) and I think the glorious lazy days of summer are behind us. So I don't think I can hold out hope for more warm days of summer to enjoy an afternoon in the pool. Living with my parents this summer came with an added perk for us - my Mom's friend, Sue (also the mother of my friend Karen), lives less than 5 minutes away and has a beautiful in ground pool which she welcomes friends, family, and, thankfully, friend's grandkids, to so they can enjoy it as well. We spent many afternoons at the pool this summer, so I thought I'd share some pics and some memories.

I have to say that I am so proud of my nephew, Noah, and nieces, Tori and Lexi. At the beginning of the year Noah was just getting comfortable with swimming, certainly was not about to jump in the pool from the side or the diving board, and insisted on his life jacket even in the shallow end where he could touch the bottom. Lexi and Tori were also getting used to swimming and were unsure about jumping into the pool. After just a few weeks they were all little fishes, swimming back and forth the pool confidently. And by the end of the summer they all were jumping into the pool from the diving board!

One of the last times in the pool Noah was swimming in the shallow end without his life jacket when he decided to go jump off the board. He forgot that he didn't have his life jacket on and jumped right in - and though surprised (!!) he swam right to the edge and did great! After that he even swam across the deep end without his jacket several times and jumped in a few more times as well. I'm so proud of him!! He was scared of even jumping in or swimming in the deep end with his jacket at the beginning of the summer, and overcame those fears. What a great lesson for us all!

At the beginning of the summer Eli wasn't liking the pool either, crying when put in his floatie and screaming, "no no no," but by the end he was jumping to Grandma in the pool and liked splashing around and playing ball. Most of his time was still spent exploring around the pool and eating pretzels though. Usually he was asking for pretzels before we even managed to get our flip flops off! The last time we were at the pool he went on the diving board and wanted to jump in, but didn't. I'm guessing that next year he'll be jumping in with gusto (and still eating pretzels too)!

I even managed to remember how to dive off the diving board, something I haven't done for probably 12 years. I forgot how much I love it! I'm a fish at heart too (just ask my Mom, Sue, or Karen about how difficult it is to get me out of the water!), and just loved spending time at the pool this summer. I'm ready for next summer already . . . and maybe I'll keep my swimsuit handy just in case we get an unexpected treat of warm weather in the next few weeks. :)