beat the heat - pool party style!

The last Friday in August found us with an open day of nothing to do...that is until my good friend Natasha invited us up to her parents' house in Washington for one last summer "hurrah" with friends! We jumped at the chance to join the Edingers and Smiths (friends from college 10+ years ago) to just hang out and be lazy around the outdoor pool. When do we EVER get the chance to do that?! Ummm...never!

We packed some snacks and headed north about an hour and a half drive to spend most of the mid-morning/early afternoon playing in the sun. We drove into clouds and I got a little worried, but by the time we got there the sun was out in full force and the kids (especially Mikayla) were ready to...

...jump in!

Mikayla learned early on that the "deep end" really meant the DEEP END. She jumped in (without floaties on her arms) to find herself in a bit of a panic that she couldn't touch the bottom. However, her swim lessons quickly kicked in and she paddled back to the wall. She was a bit concerned and a little overwhelmed at the experience, so she ended up wearing arm floaties for part of the time. However, the more confident she got in the water without them, the better swimmer she became. It was great for me to see how well she has mastered swimming and how her swimming lessons from summer and earlier on were beginning to pay off!

Let's slide!

Austin was quite content chilling in the "hot tub" part of the pool. I think he likes the feeling of having a smaller space as the bigger pool overwhelmed him a little.

And, at one point he was a doggy?
Oh the imagination!

One of Mikayla's best buds is my friend Natasha's little girl, Allie. They are two peas in a pod. They are only 2 1/2 months apart, but their size difference is amazing! One is on the bigger end of the spectrum and the other on the smaller. In the picture below Mikayla is HOLDING Allie. It just cracks me up!

And they're going in...One awesome thing about the picture above is that Natasha and I (and a handful of other friends from college) have a similar picture of us jumping in her parent's pool over 10 years ago! It just warms my heart knowing that our friendship has spanned over that many years and now our children are enjoying the benefits of that friendship! I'm totally going to have to dig around for that picture...for sentimental reasons.

Nothing like finding the best way to beat the heat than with a pool party!

Group Shot!
Austin, Allie, Mikayla, Xander, Sam, Caden, Brady, Hailey, Levi

It was a real treat for us to spend the day by the pool and we enjoyed every minute. Even when some stray cows came for a "visit" in the front lawn and Natasha had to run and chase them away. Now that is a picture I should have taken! I really can't get enough of those girls!