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Category Archives: Water!

Splash Village

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We spent Saturday night in Frankenmuth at Splash Village for a belated Smith Christmas/Reunion (we’ve had enough with driving in the snow and thought this would be a nice change!) so we got to take Owen to the pool again! (This is what we were training for at the community center pool!)

Due to sleep and nap schedules, Owen didn’t make it to the pool until the morning we were leaving, and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike volunteered to take him in. Of course, Tom and I sat on the sidelines and watched and took a few pictures (not as good as my usual pics since I had our old camera).

With Grandma Linda in the lazy river:

He really, REALLY amazed and impressed us…as soon as he saw the pool, he walked right into it and just kept going…deeper and deeper! He did hold hands with the grandparents, but he just…kept…going! He hadn’t even done that with us at the pool! They would play with him then walk him back to the shallow entry…and Owen would turn right around and walk back out! Over and over and over. It was soooo cute!

He did a great job overall, and we can’t wait to take him back to our local pool to see if he does the same thing there. We also bought him a bigger pool for the back yard—so hopefully he’ll like that, too!

First tub bath!

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We were at the hotel so he got a real tub bath—his first! (At home he still gets bathed in the baby/toddler tub on the kitchen island and other than that, it’s been the sink!) Needless to say he LOVED it—of course, since he’s now used to splashing in the pool! Throw in a ball or two and he could stay in the forever!

P.S. And look at all those teefers!!

Splashing and swimming!

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Today was Owen’s first real swimming lesson! (I may or may not have mentioned that our new babysitter is also a swim instructor! BONUS!) Unfortunately, we got off to a bit of a rocky start, because of a few minor things—it was our first visit there so maybe it was just that they didn’t recognize us, but no less than three different life guards asked why we were there. Um, to swim? :crazy:

Anyway, I should have just said we were there for the “open swim” but instead I said we were there for a private swim lesson. Sounds logical, right? Because we technically were. Except that apparently it’s against the rules to have private swim lessons there if the instructor isn’t employed by the community center. Even if both of us are community center members in good standing. 🙄 On top of that, we had brought a ball because we knew Owen would LOVE it, and that wasn’t allowed, either. Ugh.

Anyway, they were actually (I think) considering asking us (or her) to leave. So she went in to the office to talk to the manager and came out saying that she told them that we were close family friends and we were going on vacation and wanted our son to be comfortable in the water, so since he was comfortable with her, she was helping out (which was mostly the truth!). Apparently they acquiesced but told her she couldn’t INSTRUCT him. 🙄 What-ever. So she played with him and then kinda half told me what to do with him and overall it all went really well.

I was a little worried at first because we sat on the steps of one of the pools and Owen did NOT want to be there at all. He refused to let go of me and was almost crying. So we got out and he wanted to walk, so we walked around the outside edge of the pool area and he seemed to be enjoying himself. By the time we got back to the beginning, he was ready to go in the pool and was splashing around a bit. And loving it!

Then Christie (babysitter/swim instructor) arrived and she tried to get him to splash and to walk deeper in the water. Then we moved on to dunking him briefly and holding him on his stomach in the water. He didn’t mind any of it—even getting dunked! We ended with more splashing in the shallow water!

Christie told us more than once that he was a joy to teach because he was soooo easy going! She said that most kids she taught were tired and whiny after 20 minutes—and overall, we spent a good hour in the water! By the end, he was getting cold and whiny but he did such a great job! YAY OWEN!

First pool & first hair cut!

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Since our trip to the lake didn’t work out quite like we had hoped, I thought I would like to try the pool. A mom friend has easy access to a country club pool and invited us, so it was perfect.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. Whether he didn’t like his sunglasses or it was too warm in the sun or he was hungry or he was tired…he just cried and cried every time I barely put his feet in the water. Of course, the other two babies were having a ball! We’re invited to try again if the weather holds.

Then we decided it was time for a mini non-professional hair cut. The hair over his ears was sooooo long we’ve started calling him Hippie. 🙂 It also gets in the way when we take off his helmet (we pull hair a lot of the time). 🙁 Anyway, I’ve been wanting to take him for a professional cut, but Tom just wanted to trim it himself. I thought I could do it with a pair of scissors, but of course he wouldn’t sit still and I was terrified of stabbing him with the scissors…so I gave in.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. He didn’t want to sit still and the loud sound of the razor didn’t help. So there was lots of crying…which stopped as soon as the razor stopped (which you can see in the video). Stinker.

A boat for the boy…and a trip to the lake!

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Since we were up in Grayling, Gramma Marsha came over to visit. She also brought Owen a gift—a blow up boat, complete with leg holes and a horn! It was perfect, as we were planning (hoping!) to take him to the lake (for his first big water experience) that weekend.

What was funny, though, was me reading the box: “For ages 6 months to 12 months. Up to 20 pounds.” 88| That meant we had better use it that weekend, otherwise he would be too big! (Yes, he is only six months old…but remember, he weighs as much as a 12-month old so he was already at the max weight!)

So just in case the beach thing didn’t work out, we had a photo op at home beforehand:

So then it was off to Houghton Lake to see Rose and Jim at their cottage. They have lake access just down the street, so we all walked down there, cameras and towels and boat in hand, boy in the stroller, hoping for it to go well.

Things started off well, but then he wasn’t anywhere near the water yet.

Unfortunately, it was windy, which made the water a bit choppy.

And the water was cold, so it took about five seconds to register that he didn’t like it so we pulled him out.

But we still wanted to try the boat. And this picture pretty much sums up his entire first lake experience:

So much for my grand visions of a nice and warm day, with the sun having warmed the first two inches of CALM lake water, with us sitting next to the boy IN the water, watching him play and kick. |-|

Then it was off for a pontoon ride around the lake. Rose and Jim didn’t have a baby life jacket but they did have a kinda small one—which Owen didn’t really like, either (but then, he was hungry—so once the bottle was finished, he was much happier). That said, his helmet was really in the way:

…so we eventually took it off—and once the helmet was off and he relaxed a bit, things were better:

…and he eventually fell asleep! 🙂