Swimming!

Last Sunday, we took a road-trip to Spooner, WI for the dedication of the new high school; this was Patrick's first project since moving into the office at M&J. Patrick has been making daily trips to Spooner for over a year! The school is beautiful - what lucky teachers to have such a great building to work in.
On Monday, Finley started swimming lessons! We took a Mommy & Me class with a few other teachers and their little ones. Unfortunately the weather was cold all week; most days it was in the upper 60's and cloudy - we signed up for class in April, we never would've guessed our babies would be shivering with blue lips in JULY!
Can you tell Finley and Caden were uber-excited to get wet! Caden's mommy (Leslie) is my job-share partner for next year.

On the first day, we were in the water for 30 seconds and they told us to dunk the babies! I thought dunking would be the finale on our last day. Class moved a little faster than I anticipated, imagine my surprise on the second day when the instructor said, "Today the kids will be going off the diving board, follow me over to the diving pool!" I literally laughed out loud and said, "Are you kidding me?!" She said, "Nope!" My thought to myself..."You've gotta be f#%&in' kidding me, who takes one-year olds off a diving board?!" The instructor let the parents choose if their baby would be going off the diving board; I passed at first - then thought, "This would make a great story for the blog." So off Finley and I went to the diving pool...he was the only crier of the group!

Thursday was our last day for this swimming session; we will be taking the class again in two weeks - all the moms are praying for warmer weather! Grandma came on Thursday to take pictures and home videos.

Aside from dunking and diving, we sang lots of songs and moved around the pool...

...we also practiced scooping our hands while "swimming" to a boat - this was Finley's favorite part.

We made a few trips around the neighborhood this week because Daddy FINALLY put together Finley's wagon. I had to grab my camera...there was just something about this kid sitting in a wagon, drinking from his cup, and feeding himself a snack...maybe just another reminder of how BIG Finley is getting - man, I love him and he's growing too fast - but it sure is fun!
Finley has a "thing" for buttons, switches, anything that needs to be pushed. He begs to push the switch that runs the fan and light over our table...I've found it to be perfect entertainment while I'm cleaning up the meal-mess, I scoot the highchair over and let him push away.

On Wednesday, Patrick and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, I got a special delivery in the afternoon.
Finley suddenly seems older - his independence, sense of humor and personality seem to grow each day and he's got a little spark to him. Finley will intentionally do something he's not supposed to - knowing it, he'll look back to see if you're watching, when he catches your eyes - a big 'ol smile spreads across his face - stinker! One afternoon I gave him a little bowl of goldfish crackers and a glass of milk; Finley quietly sat and watched a little cartoon while he ate...granted it lasted for maybe 3-4 minutes, but hey - I had time to start a load of laundry.

On Wednesday, we met Melissa and Miss Paisley for a walk on the bike trail...the sun finally poked out and it was beautiful. We walked until Miss Paisley started laying down, she's still a puppy ;)

Hoping to make our fall transition easier, I've wanted Finley to spend a little time at Stephanie's this summer; I want him to stay familiar with Stephanie, her house, routines, her kids, etc. I hadn't had a good reason to bring him, but on Thursday I took the opportunity to pack for our weekend. It was a little crazy to be in the house alone for three whole hours - I felt a little guilty, but I got sooooo much done. I was exhausted when I picked Finley up, I hadn't sat down the whole time he was gone.

After Stephanie's we stopped at Grandma's to visit with Spencer, the boys enjoyed cookies and milk on the porch.
Finley had a busy day; from swimming lessons, to Stephanie's, to Grandma's! He'd played hard all day and was sooooooo dirty. This picture doesn't show it, but he literally had dirt around his mouth and greasy hair from sunscreen.
Thursday night closed another chapter - no more bottles! We'd stopped all daytime bottles on Finley's birthday, but continued the bedtime bottle until our surplus of formula ran out...it's gone. The timing worked out well for me; I was home to give Finley his last bottle and Grandma & Grandpa had Finley overnight on his first two bottle-free nights. Surprisingly, Grandma said the nights went pretty well and Finley didn't seem to miss it...guess this week I'll be packing them up for storage.

Friday we left Finley at Grandma & Grandpa's and headed north...Patrick and I attended the annual trip to Iron River with my high school friends. Our group has changed over the years (spouses and significant others now come too) but the original group started the annual trip 13 years ago! When we lost Papa Dick 1.5 years ago, our group bought a granite memorial in his honor. This year we were able to see the memorial displayed; it's where Dick would want it - next to the cabin with a beautiful view of the lake.

We didn't have perfect weather, but we managed to have fun...pontooning, eating (way too much), drinking, sharing old stories, yard games, camp fires...and even a wedding!

While the parents were away playing...all of the grandparents were busy with weekend visitors. This was the fist time I was away from Finley for two nights in-a-row; I was a bit sad and really missed him, but I called home twice/day and enjoyed a child-free weekend. Finley also had fun; Grandpa helped Finley practice going up stairs (this picture doesn't match)...
...he got a kitchen-sink bath...
...hung out with Spencer (Grandpa & Grandma babysat him Saturday night too)...
....and he went out to dinner twice.

My favorite Finley story from the weekend...Grandpa & Grandma were busy Saturday morning, so Grandma Lynn took Finley to coffee. When Grandpa went to pick Finley up from her house he found...Grandma Lynn's car in the driveway with the doors open and Neil Diamond music playing, Grandpa Jim sitting in a lawn chair reading the newspaper, Grandma Lynn keeping busy outside and Finley.... was taking a two-hour nap in Grandma Lynn's car!!!! He'd fallen asleep on the ride home and she just let him stay sleeping in the car - spoiled boy!