It took a while, but the warm Summer skies have finally appeared on the Palouse. We anticipated spending many Saturdays and evenings at the local aquatics center (especially due to our close proximity) but all of June and most of July's temperatures have let us down. Only twice so far have we made it to the pool...I'll summarize the experiences here: Both trips were short, an hour tops. Jordan enjoyed the shallows where she had all the control over how wet her swimsuit got. However, she didn't like how the older kids preyed on her inability to dodge their water canon spray. Then she wanted to wade further and further into the deeper parts of the pool but wouldn't let you hold her hand or aid her in any way. This was problematic because we're talking water as deep as her armpits...one misstep and she learns she doesn't have gills. I thought she wanted to "swim" like at swim lessons last year, but she wanted none of that action either. In the end, she most enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool and jumping into mommy's arms. (Ironically this is also her favorite activity at Wiggle Worms, except that it's a foam pit, not a pool).
Speaking of Wiggle Worms, Jordan is still having fun with her introduction to gymnastics. The sessions are in the evenings this summer (as opposed to Saturday morning, as they were in the spring), so she has only been able to wiggle it up on days when mommy hasn't had adult league soccer games. In addition to the foam pit, Jordan especially loves walking across the balance beams and the various activities that are centered on the big bouncy floor. Sometimes the activity is a relay race, other times it's a mini-obstacle course, and sometimes it's dancing to silly songs with specific movements. Mostly we like to take Jordan to Wiggle Worms as a way to expel pent-up energy, rather than learn things, however, she did learn "freeze and touch your knees" as a way to focus her energy and attention on the person who yells the phrase. It is exactly as it sounds, and is used to gain a child's attention--when yelled, all activity ceases (the freeze part) and the child is then supposed to bend over and place their hands on their knees. Though it is not 100% effective, those times where Jordan does freeze and touch her knees have helped me to realize that she is capable of listening and following orders...sometimes!
Jordan also got to spend a day with her good friend, Parker, when he came up to Deary to visit his grandma and grandpa over the 4th of July weekend. Though they don't see each other as much as Jordan sees some of her other friends, Jordan and Parker seem to be inseparable. They interact together more so than Jordan's other play dates. Maybe it helps that Parker is always willing to share his delicious fruit snacks! During this particular outing they were taking lessons from Parker's grandpa on the subtleties and nuances of firing Nerf guns at the older kids who were also visiting for the day.
The big event of the summer for Jordan so far has been cousin Melissa's wedding. I say big event because it involved a long road trip, Jordan's first time with a babysitter she didn't know, spending time with a newish friend her own age (Peyton) and also being exposed to all of mommy's paternal extended family (mostly new faces, some she's seen only a few times). In addition, it meant another stay in a Boise hotel for mom's job interview, a trip to daddy's office, and a splash or two at the fun park in Eagle on the way home. Jordan's highlights: riding Peyton's fire truck, meeting some ornery cattle and a mini-horse, watching the doggies wrestle in the back yard, taking a bath in the Sharps' giant garden tub, collecting rocks under the deck with Peyton, making and eating dirt pies with Peyton, and having her picture taken a lot. Of course great grandma Jeanne found matching Elmo t-shirts, so we had additional photo ops. Fortunately Jordan doesn't really know who Elmo is yet since both mommy and daddy are disgusted by this fuzzy red character who talks in the 3rd person and who has an incessant need to be tickled. The shirts did make for a cute set of pictures though.
