Swimming Lessons

Our boys are back in the pool for another round of swimming lessons.  Every time we have driven past Provo High School they see the Rec Center and point out "swimming lessons".  I don't think they realize that we can do more things at the Rec Center than swimming lessons.  But since that is the only thing we have done, that is the end of their associations.

 

We thought it would be a good idea to have the boys do swimming lessons again to improve their skills before they get too carried away going to 7-peaks water park this summer.  And the boys have been asking to do more swimming lessons for the past few months.  If their that excited we can't really say no.

 

Grandma Petersen pitched in get the boys into the first session of swimming lessons.  That made everyone very happy.

 

 

Quinten was a little young for swimming lessons this year but he had fun running up and down the length of the bleachers where the parents could sit and watch their kids swim.  Amazingly, I didn't have to chase him down any of the three sets of stairs that lead down to the pool area.

 

 

Donovan and Michael were in the same class and got to practice swimming together.

 

 

Aleky was more excited with putting his head under water than in the actual swimming lessons but the teacher was still able to get him to try a few of the swimming exercises.

 

 

David couldn't believe his good fortune in getting to jump of the diving board into the deep end.  He did fantastic and was easily able to swim to the side of the pool after his splash filled entry.

Our boys are definitely excited about their increasing abilities.  Thanks again Grandma Petersen for getting our boys into the pool!

Canteloupe Fiend

Quinten has discovered the wonderful world of fresh fruit, especially cantaloupe.  This boys will eat an entire cantaloupe by himself if unsupervised.  Michelle had cut up one cantaloupe for the boy's fruit during a lunch about a week ago.  The bowl was passed down to Quinten so he could have some fruit too.  While everyone was distracted Quinten quietly ate nearly the entire bowl!

 

Since that time Quinten has not been allowed to be within arm's reach of the bowl of cantaloupe.  He is given his allotted amount and the rest of the melon is carefully guarded so guarantee sufficient supply for the remainder of the family.

 

Even with careful precaution Quinten still finds a way to get more melon that he is rationed.  This boy is very resourceful and determined to get his way!

 

Crash Landing

The paper airplane frenzy has started again.  The boys have attacked our paper supply to create paper airplanes.  A disaster was narrowly averted when Michelle grabbed the ream of printer paper and hid it from the voracious airplane appetites of the boys.  However, the butter ended up the only casualty of the brutally aerial assault.

 

If that's as bad as it gets I think we're going to be alright.

David Gets a Bay Blade

David has managed to get a few lawn mowing jobs with neighbors  nearby.  With that money he went to the store and bought a pair of beyblades.  I didn't even know what they were but David discovered them at a friends house and has been determined to own a pair ever since. 

 

The part that really touches my heart is that he bought a pair of beyblades so that he could play with his brothers.  That kind of constant caring and looking out for his siblings really lets me know that he is on the right track and that he has a huge heart.

 



 

Here the boys are gathers around for the beyblade tournament.  Each boy takes a turn to launch the beyblade.  The winner of the duel keeps "his" beyblade and battles the next brother.  And they rotate through, each brother getting a turn and no one ever stays champion for very long.  That way everyone has fun.  (all the boys ideas)

Green Smoothie Monsters

We are officially on a green smoothie diet.  That's right, the entire family has a green smoothie every day.  The funny part about it is that Quinten is our best smoothie drinker.  On a random occasion David can out-drink Quinten but not on a regular or consistent basis. 

How can you help but love his enthusiasm?

Gidean isn't far behind.  He loves his green smoothies too!

Skating with the Bunkers

Michelle had arranged for our family to meet up with the Bunker family so that our boys could get together and play.  We decided to meet at the Classic Skating in Orem because they have a great deal on Thurdays, only $1 to go to the skating rink.  I didn't know until we got there that there was a whole new section of store that had been added on that included the big inflateable toys, a climbing area and video games (as well as refreshments galore).
We went ahead a paid the extra couple of dollars to let the boys play on the toys too.  We started with the big inflateable toys and the boys were off and running.  I captured some video but they were all over the place and I couldn't keep up, especially with the boys all running in different directions.  Luckily, I was able to catch up to them in the "training arena".

After that we headed to the skating area.  We brought the scooters for the smaller boys but David wanted to use the roller skates.  Once he started Donovan wanted to try them too.  After all, how else are you going to learn?  The boys struggled with the skates and by the end of an hour David was going pretty good and not falling so much.  Donovan mostly kept to the slower carpet to find his groove.  Gidean even wanted in on the action and tried to get onto the floor with any chance he could find.

There weren't too many people there but a group of teenagers we cruising the skate floor pretty fast and it looked like they might be practicing for a roller derby or something.  In any case, they were all syncronized as they cruzed around the floor.  No one was run over but everyone kind of tried to stay clear.

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We had a lot of fun and hope to be able to do a few more things with the Bunkers before they head across the country.

Suka the Tortoise

David got his first "pet sitting" job.  One of our neighbors has a pet tortoise named Suka.  These neighbors were heading out of town for the weekend and asked David if he was willing to feed and care for him while they were gone.  David thought that was an absolutely fabulous idea.

The other boys wanted to see Suka too.  So Donovan and Michael accompanied David on Saturday morning.  It's not everyday that you get to watch a tortoise.  This tortoise is only 4 years old so he still has some growing to do.

David made $10 for watching Suka for the weekend.  Not bad for a weekend's work, especially when he enjoyed every minute of it.

David in the Cub Scout Olympics

David's scout troop had their annual cub scout olympics today.  It was fun to get together with all the other cub scouts in our stake to do these events.  The scouts were divided up into color groups so that the groups were more even and the boys could interact with scout from some of the other packs in the stake.  David was in the "orange" group.

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David was definitely one of the more active scouts in there.  The event was set up so that the boys competed against themselves.  Each boy was encourage to follow the cub scout motto to "do your best".  The boys encouraged each other and they all did a fantastic job.

One of the events was "crafts".  It didn't really fit with the olympic theme but the boys had fun anyway.  Three more of my boys even got involved and did a project too.  It was beautiful weather and a great evening.

Aleky enseña español

David has been taking a Spanish class online and the family has tried to participate in the virtual learning.  Some of the words are sticking.  Apparently Aleky has been paying attention.  While visiting a historical site in Las Vegas Aleky gives his first Spanish lesson to one of the workers at the site.

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