3 Kids on the Beach

This was taken last week when we were walking down the beach (they are on the dunes here) to get ice cream at the Sanctuary Hotel. It's very, very difficult to get a photo of the 3 of them all posing (ie looking at the camera, eyes open, not making silly faces, etc). So, I have to share it as I like it!

Fun Ali videos

Okay - I must admit that Ali's recent progress with swimming has amazed me. At year 1 she had no fear and swam with arm bands on her own. However, at year 2 she developed a fear and I remember spending last summer with her digging her finger nails into my neck and squeezing to hold on every time we got into the pool.

I wasn't sure what to expect this summer as the few times throughout the winter / spring when we swam she wasn't very keen to let go of me - even with her arm bands on. Our summer began with her clinging on again but within a couple of weeks she not only let go, but took off her arm bands and pretty much taught herself to swim! It's very cool. She dives into the waves at the beach and in the pool she is just tall enough to stand in the 3 foot shallow end. Yesterday while we were there she demonstrated swimming and even managed to... well, swim! Sometimes she pretended to swim but her feet didn't leave the ground. This time she swam on her front and back! And she even did the shark swim - kicking and her hands together making a fin above her head... It was fantastic... We are so excited and even happier that she decided to do this completely on her own and without any pushing. It makes mom and dad's lives much easier without her finger nails in our neck and shoulders!

2 Kiawah Videos

Okay - we are having way too much fun... I have had no time to blog as we are non-stop on Kiawah Island. This week we have Curt's family and there are 14 of us swimming, biking, playing tennis, playing in the sand, eating out, etc.

Anyhow, here are 2 great - and very different - videos that I took this week. I will get the photos and more videos up next week when some of our guests leave and I have a bit more down time.

This first one is of our recent bike ride with the kids and Curt's brother, Jerry. Mia, in her fast wild manner, tried overtaking Terence on the bike path and their pedals knocked into each other and she fell over. Her fall wasn't so bad but she did land on her hands and scratch them up pretty well. She was too injured to ride her bike the couple miles back so my superhero hubby took her bike and put it on his handle bars while she rode on the back of his bike (there's a rack there). While riding behind them I got a very shaky video as it was so funny. Everyone who passed us just laughed or shouted out something funny as it is certainly not something you see every day.

Some of the storms here are just amazing. None of them last very long but they are great to watch. This was last night while I was making dinner (shrimp and scallops). It was unbelievable! It came out of no where and we all sat on our apartment balcony just amazed by it's speed and scariness.