Natalie's first day at Seal Swim School

We've done swim lessons before with Natalie, as you may recall. But this time, we decided to put her in the hands of the pros and signed her up at Seal Swim School. This is the type of program where parents don't get into the pool with the kids. In fact, we can't even go out TO the pool. The instructors come into the building and take the kids out to the pool (four children per class) while we moms and dads sit inside and take pictures through the windows. I commented to Johnathan that I felt very parental as we sat there watching her, overhearing conversations about potty training, napping and other subjects only interesting to people with kids under age 5.

How did Natalie do? I'm glad to say she did pretty well for her first time. She seemed a little bit confused at first and tried to come back inside, but the teacher (a young guy who should probably be nominated for sainthood) brought her into the pool. He took turns with each child, having him or her kick, float and go underwater. Natalie usually does what we call the "koala move" where she clings fiercely to our necks when we take her in the pool, but she did OK with the instructor. I mean, she didn't look happy all the time (as you can tell in the pictures), but she didn't cry like some of the other kids in her group. At the end, all the kids were supposed to hang onto a raft and practice their kicking, but Natalie climbed up on top and had the other kids do all the work while she got a ride.

Altogether, we were happy with her performance on her first day and she told us that she had fun. We'll be back every Saturday morning and are eager to see her swimming sklls improve.

Here are the pics!

Busy summer

Well, yes, it has been some time since we last published a post on the Natalie site. Yet, in the life of a now 3 year old, it keeps us all busy. Since our last post in March, we took a Caribbean cruise where Natalie enjoyed Dada's parents, Lee Lee & Pop Pop plus Mama's parents, Grandpa & Grandma, while we were away. When we returned, it was time for Natalie's birthday party at the YMCA. It was a gymnastics theme and so much fun for all. We celebrated Mama's birthday that evening at her favorite cheese establishment with several friends, complete with karaoke that evening. In June, Natalie transitioned from the two year old room to the three year old room. Dada took Natalie to see Lee Lee & Pop Pop (by himself) to go boating, play in the pool, enjoy the beach and see family. He was glad to get Bear home safe and sound. Natalie was great for the trip. Finally, we took Natalie to see Grandma & Grandpa over the fourth of July weekend where she played with her toys, enjoyed a sail on Grandpa's boat and went swinging in the park near Grandma & Grandma's house. Enjoy these pictures! Dada

Disney trip

https://picasaweb.google.com/JButler1112/DisneyMarch122011

Here's the link to the photos we took at Disney two weeks ago. I haven't gotten around to uploading any of the pics so I thought I'd just add the link to our Picasa album. We'll be headed back to Mickeyland tomorrow to check out Animal Kingdom and hopefully I will be better about posting the photos in a timely manner.

Just a few pics

We haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately, but here are a few from yesterday's Gasparilla Distance Classic. Dada and Grandma ran the 5K while I hung out with Natalie. I had to carry her all around the race area so I feel like I got a workout as well!

Overdue post

Hello. This is "Dada" blogging. We are sorry for the delay, yet it has been quite busy around here since New Years. We include some pictures from a visit to see "Lee Lee" and "Pop Pop" in Mobile back at Christmas. Natalie really enjoyed herself playing around the house, plus at the Lawn Park playground (where Dada used to play soccer and baseball growing up). Natalie also got to see her Uncle Ryan and Aunt Kristy while in Mobile. She also got to spend some time with Uncle Eric, Aunt Megan and cousin Whitt. Intetrestingly, Aunts Kristy and Megan are expecting new arrivals in 2011, so the family clan will gain swell in numbers. It is nice to see our family, yet sad to go back home. We were glad to get back to our "digs" plus routine again. Mama and Grandma spent New Years Day at the Outback Bowl while Dada watched Natalie. Mama and Grandma enjoyed watching the Gators narrowly beat the Penn State Nittany Lions, plus our Gator fans really were lucky with great weather (in years past, it rained on Outback Bowl day). We are having some colder than normal weather here at home, so that keeps us bundled up and inside more than regular. We are playing lots of games with Natalie and she is doing a great job reading books & identifying animals, objects, etc. For the holidays, Grandma purchased us a family membership to the new Glazer Childrens museum that opened up in downtown Tampa last September. Natalie calls it "the zeum." She loves the water tables, tug boat, climbing nets and the dancey dance room. We took some pictures today during our visit downtown. I am sure we will be back there soon, plus when grandparents come to town they are on the family list at "the zeum." We are getting ready for the NFL championships tomorrow afternoon -- Dada is picking the Packers and Steelers for the Super Bowl on Sunday 2/6 kickoff is at 6:30pm. We shall see what team shows up the best. Best wishes to everyone in staying healthy in 2011!

More winter fun!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Breakfast with Santa (more on that in a minute), but I also included a few shots from several weeks ago. It was the first day it got really chilly and I wanted Natalie to wear the black suede Stuart Weitzman boots given to her by one of Dada's former coworkers. I thought she would love wearing boots like I do, but she wasn't too keen on them. We managed to get a few pictures before she begged to take them off. Probably good we took photos because I'm not sure if we will get her into the boots again. Oh well, it was cute while it lasted!

We attended the Breakfast with Santa at the Y last year. It is a really nice event where they serve up pancakes and biscuits and there are lots of activities for the kids. As soon as Natalie went into the gymnasium, she made a beeline for the bounce house. She had a great time jumping around. I thought I might have to physically remove her, but she eventually came out on her own. Then we headed over for Santa pics. This Santa isn't as good as the one at the mall (note the fake beard) but it is free and you can take your own photos. Just like at the mall, she briefly clung to me but was fine to sit on Santa's lap on her own. The elf helping with the photos asked me if I wanted to be in the picture. I told him no thanks as I had just finished a Spin class and was looking a little rough! I was just happy that she went to Santa and Mrs. Claus willingly - no tears or sadness at all. After Santa, we sat down and had breakfast with Katie and Cloe and then it was time to go home.

Enjoy the pictures!