Our Week in Washington

(Excuse me while I play a little bit of blogging catch up...)

After spending nearly our entire summer laboring on our backyard we finished off August with a relaxing week visiting Papa and Rara Hill in Washington. It was a fantastic week with nothing we had to do. Actually, at first I was feeling pretty guilty about lounging around on the couch watching TV. After a few days I warmed up to the idea and relaxed completely guilt free. It was FABULOUS! Just what we all needed. The busyness of life had caught up with all of us and we needed to take some time to forget about it all and just enjoy each other. 

We spent a good part of our week in our swimsuits. Hailey helped Kyle mow the lawn, Keira ran around in just a diaper- and loved it. And I soaked it all in.

Keira's classic underbite smile.

Kyle found his grandpa's old pellet rifle in his parent's garage. He set up some tin cans to use as target practice while the girls looked on.

One evening we went out and played some pickleball. That was a blast. I really am not very good at it, but after a little bit of practice I began to warm up to it. Hailey took a shot at it too. When we really got down to playing she became the ball girl. She took her duties seriously, when she was paying attention. :)

And of course there was the pool. We spent some time nearly everyday swimming. The girls loved it. In fact, I loved it! I get bored swimming pretty quickly, but this time was different. I didn't have anyone clinging to me for dear life. Hailey finally opened up to the idea of swimming on her own with a floatie. Keira just went for it, with no thought of fear. She was perfectly happy to bob along on her own next to someone.

Both girls loved jumping in and out of the pool. On the side and off the diving board. Kyle tricked Hailey into jumping off the diving board all on her own. He stood on the board with her, counted down, and she jumped while he didn't. After that she did jump after jump on her own. She even swam all over the deep end all on her own while wearing her floaties. It was so good to see her enjoying herself and learning that she is capable of doing more than she thinks she can.

Keira the little daredevil saw Hailey jumping off of the diving board ran straight for it herself. I swam to the deep end as fast as I could in an attempt to beat her there, knowing full well she'd climb aboard and step right off. She is still working on getting some air when she jumps, so Kyle caught up to her and helped lower her into the water while I caught her. That satisfied her desire enough. That girl is crazy.

Keira also got a huge thrill out of being thrown into the air and splashing back down in the water. Kyle and Papa heard constant pleas of "up-please!"

We also were able to catch up with some longtime friends, nap in the afternoon, and enjoy quality family time.  And with the beginning of the college football season and the US Open going on we watched an unhealthy amount of football and tennis. Isn't vacation fantastic?