Life With Briana

June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my awesome husband - who is an absolutely amazing father...

And Happy Father's Day to my wonderful father...

Who is also an amazing Papa...

I am also giving my sister a "Happy Birthday" shout out because today is her birthday. :)

June 14, 2013

Second Swim Lesson Of The Summer

Swim lessons for Briana are going to be scattered throughout the summer. Our schedule is a bit hectic as well as the swim instructor's. Today we had another lesson, but we won't have another lesson for a couple of weeks now. I plan on practicing in the pool myself with Miss B next week.

B is doing well. She really needs to work on her coordination though. (I say that like a 6 year old really has that much control over coordination - especially my 6 year old.) She makes a big arm motion with her left arm and then her right arm does a smaller stride. Not sure how to fix that right now. Sometimes I think Briana might be thinking too hard about it...

She turns on her back when she is feeling tired or not sure where she is - and that is a good thing...

At the end of her lesson, she "raced" her instructor a couple of times. She swam the entire width of the pool without assistance. She didn't look real pretty doing it, but she got from one place to the other and "won." I noticed when competitiveness comes into play, she doesn't think as much and is motivated to "get it done"...

When she sticks her head out of the water to breathe, her legs start to sink a bit. Another thing we need to work on.

She worked so hard for an entire hour. I'm proud of how much she gives it her all.

We grabbed some lunch because she was "starving" and she got some funnel cake fries for dessert...

My sweet little swimmer. :)

First Swim Lesson Of The Summer

Briana and I were quite sad when Bri's previous swim instructor decided not to teach lessons this summer. But she recommended another instructor that lives in her neighborhood, so we were able to schedule lessons at the same pool we have been practicing at the past two summers!

Bri's first lesson was yesterday, and she was a bit nervous at first with someone new. She wasn't listening as well as she should and I felt a lot of what she learned last summer had gone out the window. I was a bit worried - not sure she was going to "get it" at all.

About 15 minutes into the lesson, Briana started to get her groove back. She started feeling more comfortable in the water. She remembered what her previous instructor had told her and listened better to her new one.

She has come such a long way, but she still has a ways to go. I don't think she will ever be swim team material (she is my soccer player), but I do hope she will become a more confident swimmer. She needs to work at bit on coordination (getting her arms and legs to work together and at the same time) and breath control. Bri can get from one side of the pool to the other without help, but she definitely likes someone in the pool with her when she does it. She still lacks confidence in the deep end right now.

We have another hour lesson tomorrow. We'll see how it goes!

Working on her kicks...

Swimming on her back and working on backstroke...

Briana really likes her new instructor - thumbs up!

And since we were at the same neighborhood pool as previous summers, she got to swing on her favorite swing again...

Stevie B's celebratory lunch for such an awesome lesson. She requested Hawaiian pizza - her favorite...

June 13, 2013

Yes - Another Fun Get Together

These girls make me giggle. :)

We went over to Kathy and Chani's house yesterday for a play date. The girls had so much fun drawing, crafting, playing and eating together. They jumped on the trampoline for about 5 minutes, but the major heat has finally hit Georgia, and they had enough.

Here they are making "price tags" for a pretend bookstore...

And they posed with Gogurt...

Always love getting together with Kathy and Chani. :)

And I had to have Miss B pose with her new crocs. I love the color!

June 12, 2013

More Fun Play Dates!

Yesterday afternoon, Bri's friend Emma came over to play. The girls play so well together ~ I just check in with them every so often to make sure they are ok and don't need anything! They played with Bri's Barbie castle for several hours. They didn't even want to run in the sprinkler when I asked them about it. :)

And last Wednesday, my sister along with my nephews N1 and N2 came over for a lunchtime play date.

Briana and N1 took off to B's playroom immediately.

After a while, we brought N2 up to play along as well...

Briana pushing N2 around the house on a train ride-on...

Briana and N1 put together Legos and Tinker Toys...

Briana absolutely adores her cousins and loves spending time with them.

June 11, 2013

Katie's Birthday Party

Oh my goodness - these three girls take my breath away. Seriously!

Miss Katie turned the big 7 at the end of May and she had her party this past weekend. Katie lives about an hour away from us, so we don't get to see her or her parents as often as we would like. So, birthday parties are always a good way to see each other. :)

Here is Miss B ready for the ride to Catch Air...

The beautiful birthday girl was waiting to greet her guests...

We arrived the same time Chani did, and as soon as the girls got inside the jump place, they refused to stop moving. Thus the blurred photo...

Katie joined the picture - still some blurring...

They stood still for a millisecond...

Let the playing begin...

The party goers were called to meet and dance with the character that the birthday girl chose (Strawberry Shortcake). Bri and Chani came over and I jokingly said to them, "Act like you like each other" and this is what they did. Too funny...