Papa Norm & Sharon's Joy of Family and Life Adventures: Two Super Weekends in a Row !!

We were fortunate to have our favorite house guests visit two weekends in a row. The first weekend we asked to have them because it had been so long since we really had been able to spend any length of time with them. The second weekend was while Mike and Paula took a couple of days to celebrate their 12th anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mike and Paula, and many more!

The swimming pool is certainly the center of entertainment when we are at home. All three C's had swim lessons this summer and in each case they gained skills by leaps and bounds.

The following little movie shows Chris trying his jump into the water for the first time without his life jacket or water wings. What a character! He was quite tentative around the water the first time they came up in June to swim. Look at him now!

We decided to take a break from the pool and take an excursion to Turtle Bay Museum and Park. We sure picked a hot day...(what were we thinking?)...but the kids really seemed to enjoy it even though the temperature was at 107 degrees when we got back in the car. Yikes!!!

Chris, in particular, was very taken with the tree and the underground root system display. Actually I found it very interesting as well.

The fish were great fun too.

We stayed in the shade for the outdoor animal show but actually had very good seats and a great view of the stage area.

After the show we found another shady location to have some lunch followed by an ice cream treat.

Back at home, Chris does some of his dance moves with Papa's ear protectors and Papa's socks.

Between our two weekends we had a chance to meet Mike and the girls at the greenhouse that he is currently working with . Both girls got busy with their pruning jobs. We were quite impressed with what they know and how they did their work. Here is Claire trimming the coleus.

Paula sent me a couple of cute pictures from their week. Chris is so proud of his garden produce and the girls are doing something interesting on their ipads.

The second weekend was busy with lots of swimming again. Below the girls are modeling some new swimsuits.

Some good friends, Danica and Aubrey, were visiting their grandparents as well, so the swim time was much more exciting and fun. Claire hadn't ventured to the deep end to jump off the diving board yet (Chloe has done it quite a bit) and Claire decided she would try it as well. She probably spent a total of 20 minutes, two different times, while she stood at the end of the board and contemplated whether she really could do it or not. Of course she could, and after the first jump you couldn't stop her. We actually think the girls can probably handle the deep end without their water wings but Papa and I decided that it would be water wings unless their parents are here too.