Pool time with PawDad

/

My grandsons have a swimming pool in the back yard of their home in the desert. Though I've had the pleasure of splishing and splashing with them in it a time or two, Jim — who due to job demands hasn't been able to visit the boys as often as I — last saw the pool when it was in progress and merely a big ol' hole in the ground.

Jim's perspective on the pool changed this past Sunday.

My husband and I took a quick trip south to see the boys and their parents over the weekend, and Jim, er, PawDad finally got to join the boys in their pool. And in their hot tub, too.

pool time with PawDad

Read More

Pool party!

/
Pool party!

Pool parties have long been a favorite way for kids to celebrate their birthdays, whether it be in their own backyard swimming pool or a paid party option at the local public swimming spot.

My daughters never got to have a pool party for their birthdays when I was in charge of party planning. In part because I can't swim and the thought of being responsible for little ones bobbing about in a body of water, large or small, scared the bejeezus out of me.

Read More

Jak jumps in!

/

toddler swimming

Megan and Preston bought a new home in July and immediately initiated the installation of a backyard pool, a requisite feature of desert homes.

The process took much longer than expected, and Bubby, Mac, and Jak grew quite tired of being banned from their backyard...

Read More

Forgotten photos: Splash!

/

I recently purchased an external hard drive on which I can house a big chunk of my photos. I take so many pictures — and have a horrendous time hitting the delete button, even if I have 26 of the same shot — that I came perilously close to crashing my laptop under the weight of the mega megabyte-sized pictures I've been hoarding.

 swimming pool jump

As I went through the pictures folder...

Read More

What a catch

/

My oldest and youngest daughters, Brianna and Andrea, flew to the desert with Jim and me for Jak's baptism a little over a week ago.

One of the days we were there, I gave Andrea my camera to snap pictures while Brianna and I swam with Mac and Bubby at the community water park. Upon returning home and going through my photos, I was pleasantly surprised by the following photo Andrea took of Mac practicing his swim moves.

bird at swimming pool

What a catch — for Andrea and for the Cheetos-nabbing blackbird.

Today's question:

When it comes to Cheetos, do you prefer the puffed ones or the crunchy ones?

Swimming lessons

/

“It's the colors that will make you stray. They sing to you, the not-blue and the searing light, and no matter how tightly you tie yourself to the inbetween, eventually you will break free.
No one swims only in the shallow water.”
― Betsy Cornwell, Tides

Mac began swimming lessons this past Saturday, his first ever.

toddler swim lesson 

Big brother Bubby...

Read More

Boys in a Batman pool

/

Bubby and Mac kicked off summer with their first swim in the Batman pool Gramma gave them last year.

Megan texted a photo of their first dip:

 

Megan also texted a video snippet of the Memorial Day fun:

 

Thank heavens for iPhones and a daughter who's willing to use hers quite wisely now and then to help this long-distance grandma endure the space between.

Today's question:

Where do you swim in the summer?

Snickers, smiles, and laughing out loud

/

I'm not one to laugh out loud a whole heck of a lot. I'm a fairly happy person, I've got a pretty active funny bone, but I tend to snicker or chuckle or just plain smile at things that might make others literally LOL.

Except, of course, when it comes to my kids and grandkids.

My daughters make me laugh out loud. Often. Once, when Megan and Andrea (my youngest two) were away at college, they came home for the weekend. The Monday they left, I spent a good while trying to figure out why I had such pains in my ribs, as we'd definitely not done a whole lot of physical activity while they were home. We did, though, laugh and laugh and laugh, and I eventually realized my ribs hurt so much because I'd been laughing so hard all weekend long.

My grandsons make me laugh out loud, too. I think grandchildren make most grandparents laugh out loud on a fairly regular basis. Which is why I ask the Grilled Grandmas, "Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud." I love the stories the grandmas relate.

Because my grandsons live so far away and I only see them every couple months, my grandchild-induced LOLing happens only every couple months as well.

For the most part.

A few days ago, despite the 815 miles between us, my grandsons made me laugh. Out loud. By myself. And then again as I shared the story with Jim.

Megan texted me pictures of Baby Mac and Bubby on Monday, each preceded by her caption for the photo. The first two were certainly cute. It was the third, though, that elicited the elusive LOL from Gramma.

FIRST TIME IN A POOL

BRING YOUR SWIMSUIT!

THEIR REACTION TO ME IN MY SWIMSUIT

Baby Mac seems to have gotten quite a kick out of Mommy's poolside fashion. Such a silly, silly boy.

Turns out, though, it was Mommy who was silly. Megan admitted in a later phone call that her attire wasn't really the reason Baby Mac was laughing so hard; she just thought it would make a cute caption.

And it did.

And it made me laugh.

Out loud.

Like I said, my grandsons and my daughters are the ones most capable of making me laugh out loud.

Even if one particular daughter is a big ol' liar.

(Or maybe just a mom who would rather be considered a liar than a swimsuit-clad laughing stock to her sons.)

Today's question:

Who makes you laugh out loud the most often?