The Summer of Swim

On July 10, 2013July 11, 2013 By AngeliaIn In the lives of children, Life is what you make it., Life..Camera...Action!11 Comments

I learned to swim when I was three years old. Mom took me and my brothers to Wintersmith Pool for swim lessons. Oh, they were eaarrrrly on Summer morning, but once we got in the water, none of us cared. Lucky for me the tadpoles did not last long and I paddled my way up to ducks. My brother skipped ducks all together. They put him in intermediate class because he could swim across the Olympic-size pool…at five.

This pool had one of those super high-dives. We all jumped off it. We swam and swam and swam. Mostly underwater, which is still my favorite way to swim.

I love swimming. There is something about the cool deep blue that tucks you in. Silencing your thoughts in the deep quiet. Illuminating wonder by the cascading rays of light. And then the sheer challenge of swimming. Who can go the farthest, the fastest, and with the least amount of breath.

When I was ten, we moved to a house with a pool AND a spring diving board. With my birthday in the summer we had the best pool parties and I had the BEST summers. For me that is what summer was all about – swimming. Every day. Back and forth the length of the pool. Backwards, forwards, and upside down. I could spend hours by myself making up games, dives, and flips all the while swimming, swimming, swimming.

I think that is why I love summer so much. Yes, it is HOT. It is cloudless, and dry. The grass is crunchy brown. My flowers hate me, and the mosquitos….ugggghh!

Despite ALL that, I still love it. Because summer means swimming.

Sydney learned to swim at three as well. A self-taught little booger. I don’t even know how it happened. All I know is we were walking in the shallow water of the kids pool. I look down and she is swimming right along – underwater.

Amazing.

I’ve been bummed that the little girls haven’t learned to swim. This last summer, they had to have floaties, and arms near-by. They would hardly take them off even in the shallow. Neither of them would go underwater. At! All! Didn’t want to get their face wet, or chlorine in their eyes.

Ohhhh, it was maddening, but I knew when they were ready and with instruction. Those girls would swim. And they would LOVE it.

It took two lessons.

Day 1 – Not loving the water so much.

Day 2 – Swimming under water.

Day 3 – More swimming under water and we have photos by my dear friend Tammy (it’s her beautiful daughter doing the lessons).

And with that, I declare this year The Summer of Swim!

Drop your life vests. It’s go time.

Yay, girls!!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

H2O: two parts Heart and one part Obsession. ~Author Unknown

The Dog Days of Summer

On July 5, 2011July 5, 2011 By AngeliaIn Beautiful Life, Life is what you make it.13 Comments

They’re here. The dog days of summer, where it’s too hot to do anything.

Anything active anyway……or anything that requires energy.

This is one of the hottest summers I can remember and we are not even half-way through.

So, I’ve taken note of how to spend the dog days of summer by emulating my black lab. Enjoy the AC when inside and when outside….jump in the pool for a refreshing swim.

Be sure and test the water with your ~~toe~~ paw first.

Then, relax and enjoy a nice summer soak to cool off.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated.

And wear sunscreen to avoid the burn, unless you are already dark (heh).

In throes of summer sizzle, I highly recommend a littel dip.

Enjoy a dog kind of day and stay cool!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Water

On June 2, 2011June 2, 2011 By AngeliaIn Angelia's Photography, In the lives of children10 Comments

This is a delightful time of year for water. The time of year when the sun rays warm and the water cools. Bathing suits are pulled out of the closet and picnic supplies are restocked. The term go jump in a lake is a good thing.

Water in summer = swimming.

Swimming is a hella good time for two little girls, especially, when it’s their first of the season. I think I have a couple of water goddesses on my hands. Good thing, I love the water too. I prefer the ocean, but I’ll take whatever I can get.

This beach is not a bad substitute.

I see lots more water in our future…..

Have you had your first swim of summer?

Follow @angeliasims
Follow @angeliasphotos

Blog Photo Fail

On August 10, 2010 By AngeliaIn Conversations with Sydney, Mon Dieu! and all that stuff.21 Comments

I tried to get a picture last night (for my blog) – of course – and it didn’t quite go the way I planned.

But let me start from the beginning, I have this bad habit of leaving a glass on the counter and using that to drink out of – a day or two at least. I fill it up from the fridge water and gulp away. I usually drink a full glass every morning. It makes me feel awake (ish) – until the coffee finishes brewing that is.

Sunday morning, I am wetting my whistle and downing the glass of water like I’m chugging beer (I love water). Chug, chug, chug. I notice – a speck – at the bottom of my glass. So, I stop drinking and peer inside. There, in the glass doing the deads man float, a bug. A teeny, slimy, germy looking bug. Ahhh!!!

I poured the water out, threw the glass in the dishwasher and vowed – NEVER – to drink from a glass I left out on the counter again. How many bugs had I ingested in my water chugging delight? My stomach turned just a little bit. But I put it behind me and now my glass stays in the cabinet; clean and germ free.

It was a moment or two after that I thought……..I should have taken that bug’s picture and blogged about it! Surely others would laugh and cry over my close encounters of the bug kind. Surely, they could relate and share their own near bug ingestion mishaps. But, I didn’t and buggy had went down the drain (the disposal drain).

Enter chance #2, which I was NOT going to miss. Sydney comes walking up to me in the living room holding a glass of water. This was last night. I had seen the water glass on the table when I was cleaning the kitchen, but just left it alone. I figured it was hers and she was drinking from it, and all that was true.

Sydney jams the glass in front of my nose, “Mom, what if I had drank from this without looking?”

My mind flashed back to my drinking without looking moment *shudder* and well, her bug was harder to miss, and a lot bigger. It had LEGS. They were thrashing. “Ewwww!” We chimed in unison – a call to action. We took the captured pest into the kitchen light to look at it and make – that’s digusting – sounds. Imagining if she had drank the water with him in it and what it would have looked like when she tilted the glass up to her face.

That’s when I got the brilliant idea to capture the shot – the moment. “Yeah! Let’s get a picture of it!”

Syd,”Why? Are you going to blog about it?”

Heh.

I grab my camera, all the while bugster is in a Michael Phelps free stroke Olympic event. As fast as his legs were going, he might hit the world record. I pick up the glass holding the camera down. I wanted to get him in the moment he would have been seen as Syd was drinking water. It’s all about renactment ya know?

So, I tilt the glass up towards the camera, towards the horizontal position, the drinking position. The water moves up, and so does the bug. Then he gains traction on the slant racing out of the glass, right towards me, and right towards the camera lens. “Ahhhh!” We shriek in unison as I drop the glass and he reaches the rim climbing down to the table.

More panic and screams as I smoosh the bug. I didn’t get my blog photo moment. I have no picture for you.

I think the lesson here is ~~Jason needs an exterminator~~ do not to leave water glasses on the counter when the temps have been over 100 every day and look before you drink.

By the way, the glass is still on the table.