Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend. Chris's sister, Ellen came in for the weekend. We basically just hung out, ate, and enjoyed the weather, which was mostly good.

Kate had a great time playing with her water toys. Ellen got some great video footage with her nifty little HD camcorder. I'll post that later. In the meantime, here's the one still photo I managed to take during the entire weekend.

Oh yeah, I should mention that Aunt Ellen spoiled Kate with new clothes (including the outfit she's wearing in the photo) and a most excellent pair of new shoes (photo to come). Kate is picky about clothes, but Ellen has an uncanny ability to select things she will actually wear.

Pre-School Graduation

Kate is now, officially, a kindergartener. She graduated from pre-school just before Memorial Day weekend. She attended the YMCA's Guided Discovery pre-school and loved every minute of it. The only days she didn't want to go were the days (2, to be exact) that I had her dress up. Once for pictues, and again for the Mother's Day Tea. Here are a couple pictures from the graduation ceremony. The second photo is with her teachers Ms. Paula and Ms. Angie. Kate loved both of them.

Swimming Lessons

The Tuesday after Memorial Day, Kate started swimming lessons at one of her favorite places in Boise - Dunkley Family Swim School. Kate went to the Dunkleys last summer, but wasn't quite swimming by the end of the summer. At her pre-school, however, she had swimming lessons once a week, and by March or so of this year, she really got the hang of it and is pretty much swimming. She could hardly wait to get back to the Dunkley's school to show them what she knows. (She said, "When Mrs. Dunkley sees me swim, she is going to freak out!")

She was somewhat disappointed, then, when her teacher had her hold on to her arms while Kate kicked. By her third turn, she couldn't take it any more. She stopped her teacher and said, "Wait. Do not hold me. I know what I'm doing." It was actually pretty funny, but you'll see (later, when I post a video) that she could still use some instruction. :)

Kate's friend Gus has joined us for swim lessons and he is loving it too. He was initially quite concerned as to whether he would be having lessons in "short water" or "long water." Turns out that he has to venture into the long water every so often, but he's not scared and is doing great. I predict he'll be swimming by the end of their two-week session.

Here are some pictures of Kate and Gus, and the amazing play area that they hang out in (literally) before and after lessons.