Swim Lessons

Not to brag, but I'm pretty certain that Josh and I definitely do it right when it comes to the kids learning how to swim.  I mean, first of all, well, we have them in swimming lessons which will ultimately lead to them not drowning, so that is clearly a good thing.  But, more importantly?  We are NOT the ones who are forced to get into the pool with them to teach them.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing things with them and teaching them things.  However, being forced to get into a cold pool at 8 AM and to attempt to be all "YAY, Avery!  Good job!  Move those arms!  Kick, Kick, Kick!" is really not high on my list of things to. 

However, it appears as though it is HIGH on Grammy and Grampy's list of things to do, so THEY took them!  It was fabulous.  Two men who are retired school teachers and who have also been life guards for years agreed to teach swim lessons to kids at Josh's parents club's pool.  Last year was Avery's first year and this year, we decided to have Alex do it as well.  It really worked out well for everyone.   Not only did both of them get far more comfortable in the water AND Avery legitimately was swimming for a good couple of seconds on her own by the end of the summer, BUT every Wednesday and Friday of this summer?  I didn't have to drop them off at daycare.  Now, again - I enjoy spending time with them and dropping them off.  But, damn!  That reduced my commute time by a good 30 mins, which was definitely a plus. 

 

 And, while it worked out well for everyone, let's be honest - the real reason that it wasn't us in the pool is simply because we aren't members at the club.  So, maybe we are the losers in a sense, but at least I'm a dry, warm loser who got to sleep and extra 30 mins two days a week this summer!

Labor Day Weekend - 2012

This year, we had an extra special visitor come over Labor Day Weekend!  Uncle William had a business trip to Boston planned for the Tuesday and Wednesday after Labor Day, so he decided to come early and to make the drive all of the way down to LC.  The kids were thrilled to see him, to say the least.  Unfortunately, he got in a bit later than initially planned, so we gave a quick tour of the house (for those of you who have seen the house, you know that this is truly quick - stand in the kitchen, look ahead and there you have it!  The house in its entirety) and then rushed him out the door so that we could get to the beach fast enough to eat dinner before it got dark.  Dinner was a success.  William got to see where we spend all of our weekends and I think that he could understand why.   Alex doing his "Yay!  Uncle Will is here!" dance...

The men eating dinner...

Uncle Will and the kids messing around (clearly I'm still trying to figure out this new camera thing...)

 We actually stayed for a while and were able to take a walk on the beach just as it was getting dark and then, much to our surprise, we got to witness a firework display as we were leaving. 

 These would be the fireworks that I clearly have no idea how to take pictures of...

The next day, we headed down to Newport to show William around.  Josh started us off with a tour of the coast and all of the ridiculous houses/mansions.  The tour was great until my stomach decided that I should have probably really stuck to my guns when telling William "No" to his 5th "come on - just one more top off" request the night before.  But, don't worry - I hung on and cured all resemblances of a hang over with a lovely fish and chips lunch.  My waistline didn't like me afterwards, but my stomach did.  :) 

The rest of the afternoon, we just walked around Newport and then headed back home to chill out for a bit on the deck before William left.

Overall, it was a very nice visit.  It was William's first time in New England and his first time at our house, so now he can at least say that he knows where the LC is - which is more than most people can say...

Future American Idol Stars

Now introducing the Holland children singing Goober Has It (aka, Rumor Has It), Firework and California Girls....

 

Polo

Man - first a post about golf and now one about Polo.  Could I be any more of a yuppie?  Anyway...

There is an awesome polo field right down the road from my office.  We went to a match for the first time last year and had so much fun that it will now become an annual tradition for sure.  The funny thing?  I'm pretty certain I didn't see a minute of the match.  Not even sure who was playing or who won.  Most of it was spent sitting around talking, eating, drinking and trying to make sure we knew where our kids were and that preferably, they weren't about to get trampled by a horse.  We made plans to go with friends of ours who have twins Alex's age and a daughter Avery's age.  We all brought some food and booze and set up camp for the night...

And, as it turns out, half of the kids' school also thought it was a good night for polo - it was like being at daycare. The only thing missing was the teachers to watch our kids while we had fun. We'll have to think about that for next year...

And, of course, the favorite activity of the night - stomping divots at halftime (aka, attempt to keep track of your kids running around the field with 100 other people - all while also attempting to avoid stepping in horse poop).  How cute are these pictures of Alex and David walking out to the field?  This will definitely be used as blackmail in the future...

Once we got to the other end of the field, they had a couple of horses for the kids to pet.  As you can imagine, Alex being our animal lover was thrilled...

It was a perfect night and definitely one to be repeated next summer...

Fore!!!!

Josh has always said that he wishes that his parents would have made him take up golfing when he was younger.  For those of you who know Josh, I think that he honestly believes that he could have been the next Tiger Woods and as a result, well, as a result, he and I probably wouldn't be married.  But, if we were, he would be able to afford to buy me things like a garage, an addition (shoot!  an entire house), a piano, etc. However, he is in fact, not Tiger Woods (which, in hindsight, I'm ok with given his not-so-loyal past).  But....just because he isn't Tiger Woods doesn't mean that our kids can't be and then THEY can buy me my garage, addition and piano!

So, what better time to get them out there than now?  I think that I was out of town the first time that he took them to the putting green.  But, I was able to witness the second time and it was pretty freaking cute.  In an effort to save the greens, Josh didn't allow them to use a real putter and in fact, not even a real ball.  Instead, he gave them their plastic golf club and plastic balls.  And, I have to say, they both did quite well.

Although, I do have to take credit for part of this.  Josh refuses to believe this story, but when I was a Staff 1 with Andersen, I was pretty much forced to participate in a golf tournament - although, I had never hit a ball in my life.  But, it was one of those tournaments where they pick the best shot from the team and start from there every time.  Needless to say, not many of my shots were used.  Until.....my historical, never to be forgotten 75 foot put.  I'm not kidding you - this thing was amazing.  I was the hero of the day (or at least in my mind). 

So, Alex?  TOTALLY taking after mom.  No joke - the kid hit the ball into the hole from AT LEAST 30 feet away.

It was amazing.  He is still talking about that put.  And, I'm still reminding him that he is indeed not quite yet the best putter of the Holland family, but he may get there someday. HA!  Kidding.  I support him.  Don't worry.  But, we all know the truth...

Summer 2012 Update

For whatever reason, my blogging was somewhat lacking this summer.  Looking back, I just remember thinking to myself every Monday that nothing REALLY noteworthy happened that weekend to talk about.  But, now that I look back on the summer as a whole, I realize that it isn't that things weren't noteworthy - they were just, well...the same as pretty much every other summer in the LC.  But, that's the reason that we like living there so much, so I'm going to write about them.  Lucky for you, I'm just going to write about all of them at once vs. having done it 15 different times during the summer...

One thing that I noticed this summer?  Apparently, something pretty funky goes on in this area right around September through November.  Maybe it's the cooler air.  Maybe it is the excitement for fall.  I'm not sure.  But, man - it's something because there are a significant number of birthdays in May-July.  So many that it was borderline unbelievable.  We literally had a bday party (at least one, if not two) every weekend starting with the last weekend in May through all of June and then another one in July. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining.  Avery goes to school with a great group of friends who have really fun parents, so it wasn't like it was miserable having to go to the parties.  I'm just simply amazed at the number of them!  Granted, one of these was Alex's, so I guess I can't count his.  But, whatever...

So, after all of the bday parties were said and done and we got back from WI, our weekends at the beach returned.  As always, each year at the beach is a bit different than the last as the kids get older.  This year, both kids were getting a bit more adventurous in the water - not quite as adventurous as most their age, but definitely more than last year.  We stuck to our typical schedule - we'd get there around 10 AM and then stay until about 1 PM so that the kids could get home for a nap.  I'm hoping to extend this even further next year, assuming napping won't be AS much of a necessity. 

Although, now that I say that, nap time was enjoyed by all.  Josh would sleep for a bit while I would go out running or walking with Deacon and then I would come back and he would go and hit balls while the kids and I played outside in the yard until dinner.  I will say that those were my favorite days this summer - beach, lunch, run, play, dinner and wine on deck.  Can't get much better than that. 

The annual family beach party at the beach was in July this year - this is the one where the beach staff sets up grills all over the place and they have a band and then you just bring your own food and booze and cook at your own pace while the kids run around and dance.  It is a really fun night.  Unfortunately, this year, it started POURING (like, no joke - we were soaked) about an hour into it, but we didn't let that ruin the evening.  By that time, we were done eating, so we packed everything up and headed to a friends' house for drinks.  All in all, the night wasn't a total washout.

My company picnic was also in July - again, a great event.   Basically, a huge party right on the water in Newport that is catered with great food and booze and a bunch of stuff for the kids to do.  The party was great, but unfortunately, this was right at the tail end of Alex's 2 week devil period in his life, so upon getting in the car to drive home, something pissed him off ( I can't remember exactly what, but I'm sure it was something traumatic like we ran out of fishies or something along those lines) and he cried for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT.  An hour on the way home and then another hour once we got home.  Relentless, that kid.  Relentless.

We also took our annual trip to the water park again this year.  Josh and I both took a day off of work on a Friday and brought both kids to a water park that is about 40 mins from the house.  It is essentially the wet version of a six flags (i.e., GREAT people watching), but I'd like to think a bit cleaner only because our kids are essentially swimming in bleach the entire time.  Regardless, they both loved it and had a blast in the water.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this, as while I appreciate those who provide great people watching, I'm not sure how much I trust them with my camera just sitting in my bag out and about all day.

And, of course, on the days that weren't ideal beach days or that we didn't have a party to go to, we did the typical playground visits, bike riding, and trips to the ice cream store down the road...

The "end" (I refuse to think of September as the end) of the summer found us ending swim lessons, going to see Thomas the Train, a visit from Uncle Will and the MS Challenge Walk - all of which require their own post, so stay tuned (sorry - maybe I lied a bit when I said I would include all activities in one post).

 I feel like I'm back in the saddle, folks, so be looking for more frequent (and as a result, a bit shorter...yay for you) posts from here on out...