Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Ah, the Rivah

What more can be said about a place that is so relaxing the entire town calls it "The Rivah." Just saying the word makes me yawn in delight. Two of my favorite people - Bob and Donna Z - invited us to their Rivah house this past weekend and we relaxed from dusk til dawn.

It's located on the Coan River in Heathsville, Virginia, about 2 and a half hours south of our house. Totally surrounded by trees and perched just high enough above the Rivah that when you sit in their screened in porch, you have a literal "bird's eye" view of the area.

We swam in the river, water skied, caught minnows and shrimp, read books, collected rocks - like I said, it was perfect. 
 Bob Z is really funny and he did lots of tricks while he was water skiing - awesome!

 This was my first time catching minnows - those guys are fast. Lucky the net was so big.
 We needed a pro, so Donna volunteered to scoop some up for me - once she was done, our minnow catching bucket was full!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Summer Fun

My Nana and Pop Pop were in town last week and we had lots of fun playing in the water, blowing bubbles, and going on wagon rides. I'm not sure what batteries are, but a few times I overheard people saying they wish they could take mine out. Hmm, do you think I may have wore them out? 
My swim class is going great. I've decided I'm a great swimmer. I run full speed off the edge of the pool and make a huge splash. There always seems to be a gasp and a bit of chaos when I enter this way, but I don't see what all of the excitement is about - someone usually scoops me up so I can continue with my splashing (insert sigh from my mom here). I have become a decent bubble blower and I love having my head under water. If only I could figure out how to float!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Liz

 Meet Liz. She's awesome. Liz watches me on Monday and Tuesday mornings while my mom works. It's kinda perfect because Liz has a son who's just a week younger than me, (and probably three inches taller++.
!)

Lots of you ask about Liz so I thought I would formally introduce her to you. She was born in northern California, just like my mom, and is married with one son, Henry. Henry got his name because they went through names of old Kings of England and Henry was their favorite - how fun is that!?!

If Liz was stranded on a dessert island and could only have three foods, she says she'd want watermelon, cheese, and dark chocolate - um, I hope she doesn't want to eat those together....gross.

Her favorite place on the planet is Star Valley, Wyoming. I haven't been there yet. Hey mom and dad, I've got an idea for another trip...

But the very best part about Liz is that she loves me and takes really good care of me. She plays hide and seek with me and pretends she can't see me when I'm hiding under the dining room table, she straps us in the double stroller and strolls us to the park, and she lets us run like crazy all through her house. Like I said, she's awesome.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Birthday America!

The only thing better than America is America's birthday - man can this country throw a party.

Our day started off with the neighborhood parade where my buddy Dru and I went as Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty. We had an awesome road crew to pull us and our attached homemade Washington Monument - my Aunt Karen, cousin Francesca, my dad, Dru's mom and Dad, and Pop Pop (my Grandpa). Check it out...
A fourth of July family portrait in front of our house.
Me, Dru, and our parade road crew.

Then it was off to the Air Force Memorial to watch the fireworks over the Washington Monument. Pop Pop put me on his shoulders so I could see the thousands of people - whew, there were a lot of people. After the impressive show we headed home and now I'm headed to bed - this birthday party stuff wore me out. One thing is for sure, I am really glad I live in this country, America is one cool place and I'm one lucky kid.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Water Water Everywhere


The past ten days have been filled with lots of water activities. First, my dad competed in the Nation's Triathlon with 3500 people and placed 11th in his age group - what a stud. He swam in the Potomac - and said it didn't taste as bad as he had expected - then he biked around the city's landmarks, and finally he ran up and around the Capital to the finish line. My mom and I cheered him on and got a little exercise of our own trying to catch him.

Summer swim class started last week; I'm officially a Tadpole. And while I'm the youngest in the class, I try to make up for it by being fearless. The first class our teacher had us lay on our bellies on the side of the pool and hang our arms in the water and splash. One little challenge, my arms weren't long enough to reach the water. So he asked my parents to dangle me over the side so I could reach and I absolutely loved it.

I loved it so much that I am obsessed with going head first off EVERYTHING now. Each day at the pool I lay on my belly and eventually end up face first in the water - lucky my mom is watching and scoops me out because I still sink. At home I climb on all of the furniture and lean over head first and away I go; only minor bumps there so far. And this week at the park I thought I'd give head first a try from a park bench to the concrete. Lucky for me, my friend Henry broke my fall (not so lucky for Henry) and I only split my chin and gum open. Lots of blood but I'm healing just fine. (I was moving too fast when my mom tried to take a picture of the damage - but you get the idea.) My mom keeps saying with a weird look on her face, "I really need to 'thank' that swim instructor for introducing Bodie to the head first idea..." and I agree, it's awesome.

And finally my mom and dad went on a evening cruise of the monuments on the Potomac. It was a kids free night so I'm sure it wasn't that great. But the pictures of the monuments from the water were cool, and my folks don't look too bad either.

Looking forward to lots more summer and lots more water adventures ahead!