Fish Boy

I swear my boy is going to grow fins he spends so much time in the pool these days.  Daddy has him already able to swim the length of our pool all on his own without any floatation devices.  I'll be honest and say that I did not think his teaching style was going to work, it sounded like he was torturing him out there on most days, but all his efforts have paid off.  We still put him in his vest to begin with and let him play and such for the first hour but then he wants out of it, and he swims and jumps off the steps all by himself.  He's so amazing to watch.  I know you people are all thinking, "She's biased.  She's his mom, she has to feel that way and say those things", but seriously he really is amazing.

And my niece, Elsa, she came over yesterday after her swim lesson and hung out in the pool with Joey as well.  She's really got her kicking down and the ability to go round and round in an inter tube.  I bet in a few more weeks she'll be swimming like a little fish too.  Everything Joey does she tries to imitate.  They really look like your typical California kids - all blonde hair and tan lines.

Lazy Days are the Best

Today was one of those low energy, do nothing kind of days.  I didn't even get dressed until after Noon.  Crystal and Jeff came over, Larry cooked up a passel of ribs while I threw together a pasta salad and opened up some canned fruit.  Joey took a 3-hour nap which is unheard of these days, and then we all just lazed around eating and floating in the pool.

It turned out to be a really nice low key day.

Peddle Power

Joey actually peddled his tricycle for the first time yesterday.  It was a bit of a battle at first as he likes to just push it with his feet on the ground, but once we helped him by strapping his feet onto the peddles and utilizing the handle on the back of the trike to push it while he steered and tried to get his feet into some kind of a rhythm we moved along pretty good.

We've decided we'll just practice with him a little each evening until he learns to do it all by himself. I can't wait til he can actually do it all by himself because then he and I can ride along together. 

My Water Boy

Daddy took Joey in the big pool with him last night and Joey did just awesome.  He had a life vest on, but he insisted on swimming by himself from one end to the other.  He did the dog paddle and used his legs to kick.  He maneuvered pretty well, only getting a few mouthfuls of water.  The pool was only 74 so it was kind of cold, at least it felt cold to me, but he didn't seem to care at all.

We kept asking him if he wanted to get out and these were some of his responses:

"I'm enjoying being in the big pool"

"No, I like swimming"

"NOOOOO"

When we asked him if he was getting cold, we got the same exact response.  After a while I made him get out cause you could see him physically shaking.  Had to make Daddy get out too, just to be fair.  They looked so cute in the pool swimming together.  Can't wait til it gets a little warmer so that I can join them in the fun.  I'm sure Grandma feels the same way.

Crystal's Spa Boutique

My sister finally got back posession of her dog grooming shop in Pollock Pines albeit without any of the furnishings.  The lady who had been buying the business - Sherone,  defaulted on everything including paying her rent to the property owner and got evicted this past Tuesday after much back and forth and a couple of trips to through the court system.  She opened up shop directly across the street with all of Crystal's equipment plus all the personal stuff that my sister had put into the shop such as photo's and plants and such.

I have to give credit to my sister because she has taken the high road throughout the whole process doing everything by the book while I'm sure deep down she'd just have liked to beat the snot out of Sherone.  I know I would have.

She, Jeff and Jeff's nephew Earl went up on Saturday and tore out all the bad water board around the tubs and the rotten steps and then spend the rest of the day installing new water board while Crystal began cleaning the shop.  It was a filthy mess.  We were going to have a painting party but she decided to skip that for now and just washed down the walls.

Mom and I drove up yesterday and brought her a little fridge, a table and two chairs and a rug for the reception area plus we purchased her a couple of beautiful potted plants.  All combined it made the front of the shop very welcoming.

All she has to do to complete her business application is to get the fire department to sign off on Tuesday morning and then she's good to go.  She's already got five appointments scheduled for Tuesday.  While we were up there people kept stopping by to see what was going on and were so happy and excited to see that my sister was coming back.  The majority of past clients didn't have anything complimentary to say about Sharone or the way she ran the business.  I have a feeling that that young lady is going to be in for a rude awakening when Crystal really gets up and running, because even without her shop cards with all her past clients information, I think they will find there way back to my sister.

Anyway sis, congratulations and good luck.