July Holidays

In Utah there is two holidays in July that you can set off fireworks for, Fourth of July and Pioneer Day. We decided that we were going to set them off for both. Last year, Austin didn't like them and hung out in the car.

Fourth of July

We sat in the back of the van while Daddy set off everything. Austin was loving them at first. Once they got loud and started popping he freaked out and started crying. This is his sad face! Also, we had bought Morning Glories for Austin. They are like sparklers, but pop. He had it pointing up and he got a tiny spark on his arm. This didn't help the whole situation.

After this, we got Brandon's ear protection he uses when he goes shooting. After that, we was just fine.

On Pioneer Day we went to the Lego Store and bought Austin a new set of Lego's. We also got lots of fireworks, Brandon sure loves setting things off. We got the ear protection right away and it went well. Austin wouldn't hold a sparkler until we were almost done.

Swimming Lessons

Austin took swimming lessons throughout May and June. Overall, he did really well! We are very proud of the progress he made.

The very first day he was unsure of it all. However, it turned out he was the only kid in the class so he was able to work one-on-one with his teacher. These are all from the first day:

At first he didn't even want to sit in the water. We arrived a few minutes early which was great because he was able to warm up to the idea of swimming.

Blowing bubbles with his teacher

By the end of the first day, he was out to chest deep water! That is a huge step for him in one day.

Over the next few days (this was only a one week class) Austin turned into the fishy that he was last year and more. He would swim on his belly with help, maybe float on his back, and do ice cream scoops galore (with his arms to teach him what to do with them). His teacher tried so hard to get Austin to put his under the last day, he would put his mouth under, and sometimes his nose, but never his whole head. That night, though, during his bath he had his whole head under! That stinker could do it the whole time!!

A few weeks later we started back up again. This time, he was one of four kids at first and then three after a few days. I love going to the American Fork pool for swim lessons, there is a max of 5 kids per class, and two teachers once there are three kids! Seriously, it is so nice. Austin was a rock star, however, the other boys in his class were more confident in the water than him. He would never try to swim on his own. However, he was more comfortable overall.

After this two-week class ended we decided to put him back in that same class again instead of moving him up a level. He would have done fine I think now, looking back, moving up a level but that is something that can't be fixed. Oh well!

The hard part about that second time was that his teacher expected three three year olds to stay by the wall instead of playing around in the water. Even I wanted to say something about it. He was very strict with them and many times one had to sit out and then they wouldn't get to play the games. All the stuff they were doing was stuff other kids in other classes were doing, well minus the little girl that kept trying to run away.

Austin however, did such a great job and it was good for his confidence to be in that class again. He didn't really learn anything though so that made him just want to play.

I am so proud that Austin has come so far with his swimming.