Lake Swimming

The other thing Finley wanted to do as soon as he arrived was go swimming in the lake.  Finley hadn't been swimming since last summer and was never the bravest kid on the beach, but it turned out that all that swimming anticipation made him very bold and super excited to jump in.  Dan (who was equally as excited to swim) hopped in first and Finley loved seeing him get all wet and float around.

But then, it was his turn!

 

 And he was off!!

 Pretty soon, he was happy for Dan to let go and he was able to motor around himself.

Thank you, Dad, for these amazing photos!! Finley the Fish :)

A Boy and His Granddad

We'd barely gotten all of our stuff out of my parents' car at the lake house, when Finley started asking Granddad to play with him.  The first activity on his priority list was fishing so my dad kindly took him right out to the dock next door and they tossed in their lines.

 

 It wasn't long before Finley felt a tug and with some help, reeled in his first catch!

 Not bad for a first fishing expedition, right?

They returned to the house quite triumphant :) They went out at least two more times and every time, Finley caught something! My dad was both proud and rather perplexed at his pint-sized lucky charm.  They caught some small and some rather big, 15 inches!

Finley probably thinks fishing is quite simple and hasn't learned much about the art and patience of it all, but he loved every second of it and loves telling us about using a bobber or a cork and all such fancy lure lingo.

Air Travel for 4

To kick off our week of vacation, we headed to Logan for our flight to Virginia.  Finley's been on countless flights, but Dagny has only flown once and it was back in October when she was still fairly doll-like.  As soon as we parked our gear at the gate, Dagny was ecstatic to look at all the activity out the window.  She and Finley stared out the window for quite a while and she did not stop "talking" the entire time, which attracted lots of "oooos" and "ahhs" from our fellow passengers.

Unfortunately, the ride down to VA wasn't as adorable and pleasant.  Ms. Dagny can be fairly stubborn at times and whenever she had to sit on our laps, she was not thrilled.  She was most happy standing near our feet exploring what was in the pocket of the seat in front of us and walking back and forth across the aisle between us.  It was pretty exhausting and kind of loud at times, but with a handful of pretzel sticks--we all made it to the tarmac in Richmond without too much drama.

The ride home was significantly more enjoyable since Dan took Dagny a couple rows back where there was a pair of empty seats and she was able to crawl all over and have a blast.

Finley was content watching videos and playing games on the iPad for both flights and getting to look out the windows on take off and landing to see all the airport vehicles zooming around.  He even wore his own backpack, that carried his most beloved property--his loveys :)

A Pool Visit

Since we'd done the the beach and gone swimming off my parents' dock, it was time to check out the pool nearby.  My parents have had this house for about six years, but never tried the pool so we took Finley and he had a blast!

First, the baby pool helped him get acquainted with his surroundings.

 But soon, he was ready for the big pool.

It was so much fun playing around in the water and while we missed Dagny (who was napping), it was good to have some Finley time.

Trophy #1

After completing the final school session of Tiny Tumblers - Finley got his very first trophy!

The little athlete was quite proud of his prize :)

Then, we had this conversation:

F: Can I drink out of this trophy at dinner tonight? It looks like a cup.

M: No, you don't drink of out of trophies.

F: Then what do you do with it?

M: You put it on a shelf and just look at it (realizing how silly this would seem as I said it).

F: Hm, that's weird.  Maybe I can put it in the basement with all of daddy's frisbee trophies.

M: Good idea, bud.

A Wet 'n Wild Birthday Gift

GG and Grandpa sent Dagny an early birthday gift the last week of June and both kids were pretty excited to give it a try as soon as it arrived!

She got soaked not long into the fun!

 This water table will be a treat all summer long, thank you GG and Grandpa!!

Soccer Star

A couple Saturdays ago, Finley went to his first preschool soccer practice.  We got him shinguards, high socks, and his own shiny new soccer ball and he was pumped! Dan took him while I stayed home with the snoozing baby sister.  Dan said it was a mix of kids aged 3-5 and some were happy to leave their parents for the the fun on the field and others not so much.  Thank goodness that Finley was ready to play all on his own! He's wearing the yellow shirt and blue hat :)

 Dan said the "coaches" seemed a bit disorganized and unprepared, but I suspect Finley had no clue.

 

 Going for the goal!

They arrived home and Finley sounded thrilled with the whole thing, awesome! Though he did want to know when the game would be since that day was "just practice" -- our competitive DNA is ever present!