The boys wrapped up their second week of swimming lessons today. It is amazing how much they have improved after just 8 classes. William is able to swim freestyle across the width of the pool. He is also going down the slide and off the diving board and can swim to the side unassisted. Alex is at the point where he can swim several strokes under water while staying afloat. He's officially a swimmer! We celebrated with Sweetwater's Donuts.

Nice pool hair, Alex!

Sweetwater's!

So Much Summer Fun

We've managed to check off quite a few things on our summer bucket list:

Visiting the waterfalls at Wedel's

Strawberry Picking at Mandigo Farms

Strawberry Picking at Mandigo Farms

Strawberry Picking at Mandigo Farms

Checking out the New Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop

These Two!  

Tiger Scout Bike Ride

Sparklers Around the Fire

Sparklers Around the Fire

Fireflies!

Fireflies!

Fireflies!

Fireflies!

Finally!

Will's bottom two front teeth have been loose for about 6 months. His adult teeth were growing behind the baby teeth (about halfway in) but they just wouldn't come out. Will finally lost one tooth - with a little help from Alex. He was so excited to use his Tooth Fairy pillow. We think it will just be a matter of days before the other one comes out.

Growler's Game

On Saturday night, we went to West Portage Little League Night at the Kalamazoo Growler's game. Some friends of ours, whose kids are on Will's baseball team, were able to upgrade our tickets to one of the covered patio areas. It was a lot of fun despite the heat!

Final Night of Machine Pitch

Tonight was William's last machine pitch game for the season. William was excited that Grandma and Grandpa made a surprise appearance.  It was bittersweet: it was a great group of coaches, kids, and parents but it will be nice to have our evenings back. Will's team has been together for two years in a row (with a few additions and subtractions due to ages). Everyone gets along so well and enjoys spending time together. After the game, which the boys won 19-10, we had cake and an awards ceremony in the pavilion. Coach Grindall said some nice words about each player before handing out their trophies.

Swimming Lessons

The boys had their first set of swimming lessons this week. They met Tuesday - Friday for 45 minutes. They improved so much after the first week. Alex is putting his face under water, diving for rings, and swimming a few strokes under water before putting his feet down. William can do the freestyle across the length of Miss Pam's pool and even went off the diving board and slide (which he was afraid to do last summer). We have four more days of lessons next week.

Final Night of TBall

Tonight was Alex's last night of tball. It was a hot one! Alex has been doing very well with coach pitch since they switched over. After the game, the team met in the pavilion for cupcakes, trophies, and pictures. Alex was so proud of his trophy - he ran right upstairs when we got home and put it on his trophy shelf.

Airway Fun

We had a great "first weekend of summer." On Saturday morning, the boys had a birthday party at Skyzone. When we got home, we went to the pool for a few hours. Then we went to West Lake Drive In for dinner. It was a beautiful evening to sit by the lake. On Sunday morning, we went for a walk/rollerblade ride around the neighborhood. Then the boys decided they wanted to rollerblade to the Farmers' Market playground. We brought their shoes along and they played for close to an hour. After lunch, we did some work in the yard and then went to Airway Lanes to play miniature golf. The boys did very well. Alex even got a hole in one! Then William discovered he was tall enough to do the ropes course. He did a great job navigating the course and zip line. Alex wasn't tall enough, so Phil took him on the Go Carts. When we got home, Phil and Will went to the pool while Alex and I got ready for dinner. We grilled and ate dinner around the fire pit.

Hole in One!