Sidewalk Art Contest

Three of John & Brielle's cousins participated in a "sidewalk chalk art contest".  The contest was open to all ages, giving them up to several hours to design a 4 foot by 6 foot space.  

Here is Elly's.  She won 2nd place for the 12 & under age group!

Here is Max's.  He is very talented at drawing horses.  

Here is Emma's.  Probably one of the youngest (age 8) contestants :).  

 There was also a professional artist from California who travels the world doing art.  She worked most of the day creating this 3-dimensional picture inspired by local scenery & landmarks. This drawing was much larger than the others, probably 12 feet top to bottom. 

 Behind Brielle & John, you can see how the street was full of artists!   Brielle & John are looking up the hill, waiting for their ride on the 4th Street Elevator.  

 All aboard!

    

On our way up...

We enjoyed the view from the top, but were soon on our way back down because the kids were excited for their next ride.  

Brielle overlooking the artists still at work. 

Fall swimming lessons

 I had a chance to see the kids at one of their afternoon swim lessons.  

This is Brielle's 1st time in the "minnow" group.   She's learning how to swim in the deeper water, without any help.  She's in the same group as her cousin, Josie, which is fun for them.

Her teacher is Ben... Coach Doug's oldest son!  Doug was my swim coach from age 8-18... and still coaches club & college teams at this pool.  

Unfortunately, I didn't see Brielle do a lot of swimming at this lesson.  She cut her knee and needed a band-aid.  Here she is coming back with her band-aid. 

 I think she was overly concerned about her band-aid coming off for the rest of the lesson, as you can see below how she was raising her leg up. Jolene has told me that the lessons since this one have been better, and Brielle has been in the water a lot more than this day.

It's John's first experience with swimming lessons... and he has been having a lot of fun.  He is in the "tadpole" group with his cousin Karley.  John is usually smiling most of the time!

 John really likes his teacher, Stephanie.

  They use flotation belts most of the time... as there is no shallow area in this pool. 

Thanks to Jolene, for driving them to & from most of their lessons!  

One of the last summer weekends of 2011

 Water gun fight with Alexia :)

 John's first time being buried in the sand :)

          

Then it was Tim's turn:  

 We will miss the warm, sunny days on the beach... 

but there are fun activities to look forward to in the fall!

What's in the bucket?

At Grandma Carol's & Grandpa Ted's house...

Brielle & John came running to me saying, "Come see what we have in our bucket!"

Since it was camouflaged by the grass, Tim picked it up... a tree frog!

         

With sticky feet!

Then Tim put it on John's head... while John wasn't looking.  

Before I could snap a photo, John was already chasing it off his hat!

 Then Alexia took a turn holding the frog... and Grandpa Ted too

 John kept bringing berries & leaves for the frog :)

   

Then it was time to return the frog to its home... so it could "find its family".  

It was neat for the kids to see how well it blended in with the tree bark. 

"John's day"

A few weeks ago, Grandma Carol asked if she could have John for the day :).

It was a Friday, and I would be taking Brielle to preschool in the afternoon.  

Well, here's how Grandma Carol, Grandpa Ted, and John enjoyed their day...

Boat ride to Catfish Charlie's for lunch.

Then they stopped at a beach to play for awhile.

Then back to Grandma & Grandpa's beach to play... 

Then he enjoyed a green popsicle... sitting on a green chair.  

Pretty fun day for a 3 year old... and probably for Grandma too!!

While John was napping...

I think John was taking a nap, and that's why our family photo only consists of 3 :)