There's nothing better than going down the shore!

Yesterday, while I was sitting at the pool during swim team, I decided it was the perfect day to go to the beach. I have never dared to take the kids to the Jersey shore without another adult but now that Rachel's 11, I figured it was completely do-able with her help. After securing Rachel's promise to aid me in watching the children, I told the kids we could go after we ate lunch and completed some housework.

Soon after we returned home, we had some of our favorite friends come to visit unexpectedly. They brought us Panera Bread and we enjoyed a delicious lunch together. They even helped us do some cleaning around the house (thanks!)

After saying goodbye to our friends, we packed up the car and headed "down the shore." (For "yous" out-of-staters, this is the colloquial term for going to the beach.) The day was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time wading in the water, finding shells, building sandcastles and soaking up the sun and feeling the sand seep through our toes. I love the ocean. Spending time there relaxes me and brings me more joy than I can describe. . . even when I'm taking care of four children.

Don't we have the cutest kids?

The kids pose with the Sandcastles they made in the sparkling sand.

What a perfect day!

Footprints in the sand

Caitlin dances in the waves

Sweet Spencer

Sunbathing sweetie

Beach babe

Shell seekers

Getting wet sand for the sand castle building project

Swim Days

Rachel relaxes at the pool in preparation for her big meet later that evening

Quote of the Day:
Caitlin: "Mommy you forgot to put on my sunscream!"
Mommy: "Why? Does the sun make you scream?"

Thursday was another "swim day." We went to swim team practice in the morning, ate lunch, did chores, then headed to the pool. Rachel spent the time at the pool resting, writing in her diary and reading because the meet was against a big rival and she didn't want to be too tired to swim. The other three kids swam to their hearts' content.

We finally left the pool, got home, I packed dinner and we drove a half hour to the swim meet against Westwood Swim Club. Rachel swam well, placing second in two of her events. Spencer only swam in one exhibition relay event, but he won his race so it was a great night for our kids. The races were so close and the rivalry so intense that it made it much more fun to watch than any other meet this season. Several league and team records were set because of the serious competition. Ultimately, our team won!!! It was so much fun watching because at most meets, our team wins easily but none of us knew what the final result would be until they announced it! Meanwhile, the twins had fun monkeying around on the play equipment.

Caitlin demonstrates her flexibility on the ladybug while Rachel watches in the background

The two princesses smile at the top of their castle tower


Rachel (in the sweatshirt) and her teammates smile when I interrupted a strategy session they were having.


Courtney plays peek-a-boo with me in the little house

Spencer feels triumphant after another great race!

Spencer swimming at our pool Thursday afternoon

Courtney and Caitlin enjoy playing in the baby pool

Happy 4th of July!

Goggle boy. I love Spencer's goggles because I can always find him in the pool.

The cell phone doesn't take great pictures
but here's Rachel and Lauren taking a break from the pool.

Rachel and Lyndsay chill out on the tube

There's our little Coco

Caitlin, Gina, Courtney and Kelly. Rachel's friends love our girls!

We began our Independence Day with a neighborhood tractor/bike parade. The kids had a great time decorating their bikes and they all enjoyed riding around the neighborhood waving to the spectators. Afterwards, we headed to the ward barbecue. Finally, we joined our neighbors at our pool party. The kids enjoyed the biggest splash contest, the t-shirt relay, the dollar dive, the soda can dive, the baloon toss and hanging around their friends. We capped off the night with a drive to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, we were late leaving and had to watch them from the car but they were still spectacular!

Kelly, Rachel, Lauren, Gina, Lauren (Rachel's friends) enjoy some yummy snacks after the parade. Notice how tall Rachel is compared to all the girls (and the shortest girl is the oldest!)

Spencer takes a breather after an uphill ride around the neighborhood.

There goes Rachel next to her friends Lauren and Gina. Spencer is behind her in the red shirt.

The kids are ready to join the parade at the end of our circle.

I have a thing for American flags and matching shirts on the 4th of July. Don't the kids look cute?

Oh What do you do in the Summertime? Swim, Swim, Swim!

If you've wondered what we've been doing this summer, it's simply swim team and swimming! Rachel and Spencer practice every morning, Monday-Friday for an hour and a half. They have swim meets twice a week. They go at different times, so we do a lot of driving to the pool and Caitlin and Courtney and I wait at the pool a lot. But it's summer so the weather's nice, we're outside and they always find something to do while we're waiting. This Spencer's first year. He has made dramatic improvements in his swimming this season. He started out looking like he was having a seizure in the water when he was trying to swim freestyle. Now he looks much better when he swims! Last night, he even won his freestyle exhibition race, which is a big step in the right direction. I love swim team because it's like two months of intense swimming lessons! Rachel is really doing well this year! The last couple of years, she has mostly raced in freestyle and backstroke (her best stroke.) But during the last swim meet, she got to swim the IM which is freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breastroke for the first time. She did great!

After swim practice every day, we usually have lunch and head back to the pool to swim for the afternoon. Sometimes I think maybe we should just pitch a tent at the pool since we're there so often. But I love it! We have many friends and neighbors there and it's very close to our house so it's super convenient and I don't have to make playdates for the kids because they play with their friends at the pool everyday.

Courtney hangs out during a last night's swim meet
Rachel executes a perfect flip turn during her 50 meter freestyle race

Many kids from swim team love to play with and entertain the twins, including Gina and Allison who are holding Caitlin and Courtney during the swim meet last night.

Spencer poses with Gina and Allison

Rachel with her friend Maddie in their swim team uniforms! We like them this year. The last few years, they've been blue and green so pink is a fun change.