My daughter is taking swimming lessons. Today, they began testing for graduation to the next level. Somewhere between last week and this week, she has developed the perfect crawl stroke. It’s textbook.
I’m not just saying that. Her butterfly stroke (not that I can do this stroke anyway) could use a little work (mine could use a lot), but the crawl is perfect.
She swam 3/4 of the way across the pool, tread water for 30 seconds, then returned to the side of the pool.
My eyes were wet.
Yesterday, we swapped the camper my FIL gave us for a small fishing boat. We figure it’s better to not go on short trips that are pretty much like a small house move, and get something where we could catch our own food. Mmm… Fresh catfish.
This must be corrected.
Yesterday, she ran smack into our golden retriever, who, for some unknown reason, was not phased by a speeding bike approaching the side of her body. I checked for broken or cracked ribs (the dog) and patched up a few nicks and scratches (the kid) and we were off again
I got up and started walking toward her and asked her to watch out, cause kids were on thier way across the walk. She wasn’t sure what to do. Afterall, “the brakes don’t work” (especially when you don’t try to use them). So she ran into the back of the big wheel the 4-year-old was riding.
He fell forward onto the grass, while my daughter screamed bloody murder. She wasn’t that hurt… just surprised, really. The little boy was fine. Apologies were made to the mother as we scurried into the house for more patch and repair.
Dad is on point to “check the brakes” of the bike to ensure they are functional. I suppose we should have looked for a bike with handbrakes, but it didn’t really occur to us at the time.
Biking. It can be dangerous.
It’s camping season. Well, almost. That means the camper is coming out of storage and is coming home for a once-over before our first camping trip on Mother’s Day weekend. We have a spot in Iowa all picked out.
We also have 4 days in Northern Nebraska reserved over the 4th of July holiday
This year, we have decided to introduce our golden retriever to the joys of camping. I wonder if she will enjoy fishing.
I enjoy sleeping in the middle of nowhere with the windows open and the crickets singing in the woods. The only thing I’ll miss is my wireless Internet connection. Oh, and my bug-free bathroom.
So, we got to the roller skating arena.. a place I haven’t been since junior high, and we put on skates and skated. The good news is that within the hour, the little kid was skating around the rink without holding onto the wall. I kept telling her, “We don’t need the stinking wall”.. not in a rude way, but in a funny way that would give her confidence. She was even skating in the inside lane without me.
Well, by then, it was that she HAD to skate without me. We were skating along and she fell and then my skates went right out from under me, and I landed HARD on the ground.
Ever had that sort of pain shoot through your body where you had to just stand (or sit, as the case may be) for a minute to make sure you you going to be able to move?
That was me.
Once I was able to stand up, I skated over to the carpeted area, where I stood up for awhile. I was contemplating whether I should sit, and if so, would it hurt to, and would I be able to get back up.
I sat down slowly and waited for The Little Kid to show up again.
Then a nasty migraine started, and we had to leave.
I bribed her out with a chocolate milkshake. Sad, but true.
It was a pretty bad start of a migraine, anyway. I had swirly lights on the left, then those went away and the swirly lights started on the right. Then they started in the middle.
Normally, when the lights go away, the headache starts, but sometimes the lights are all I get. I just got the lights this time, which was good.
So my question is: Does blunt force trauma to your body sometimes cause migraines?
Is there a doctor in the house?
Yesterday, we set out to try to learn to ride a bike without training wheels (her, not me). We started out on the pavement, helmet included, long pants on, etc. Then I remembered what my grandfather did with me.
We moved to a grassy hill, got situated on the seat, and off she went.
We started with a few 5 – 10 foot rides, then she started getting the hang of peddling, and she was off.
We still have some things to practice… starting off without help, and stearing, so as not to splat into the fence.
I suppose I was the loudest person cheering in the common area yesterday.
Being 20 degrees F outside didn’t stop us. We went to the indoor pool. If you’ve ever been to an indoor pool, you can appreciate the incredibly strong smell of chlorine in the air. It was so strong, that when I got home, having breathed in normal air for 1/2 hour, my throat actually hurt.
Playing in the pool for a few hours was fun, given the yucky weather we’ve had lately. For a minute, I pretended it was the middle of summer. I was warm in there. During the kids’ break time, I was the only adult wanting to swim, so I did a few laps. It was nice to be alone in a big pool with no one to avoid.
As you can imagine, it was quite an adjustment to go from the nice, warm pool, out into the cold, snowy weather again. It’s getting better, though. It was around 41 degrees today. Consider that balmy for Nebraska in early March.
I’ve decided I’d better get my act together and work on the scrapbook I started for my daughter last year. I only had one page done. Today, there are 3 pages.
One of my problems is that I never print any pictures. But I’ve just sent some to Walgreens via Snapfish, and they’re waiting for me to pick up.
The other problem is that I can’t figure out how the heck people get all of those scrapbooking supplies. I mean, for gosh sakes, it’s got to be spendy accumulating stuff, right? There has to be a trick to it. Tell me the trick. I know you know. 🙂
Today, I went to a scrapbooking store in the shopping plaza down the street from us. OMG. They had tons of stuff there! Nice stuff. Ever take a 6-year-old to the scrapbooking store with you? “Mom? Can I make a scrapbook?” “Ummm… let me figure out my own scrapbook and we’ll go from there…”
暴雪将至 