Kentucky 2011

On the plane ride home, Matthew asked us repeatedly why we didn't live in Kentucky and why we couldn't visit Kentucky for 100 days. The boys had a great time with their cousins. Matthew and Ryan were virtually inseparable and self entertaining for much of the time. Ryan was an outstanding playmate for him. She was happy to answer any question,  full of fun ideas, gave clear directions and was quick to bring Matthew back in line should he stray or do something foolish. We learned a few tricks from her! You can see them having a Chicken fight in the pool above, aided and abetted by their father and uncles. Matthew even had his first sleep over with his cousins and everyone had a good time. 

Tighe and Owen are just getting to the age where they can play together and so far get on well.  They mastered leaping into the swimming pool during our visit. Owen enjoys this so much that you have to be careful because he will happily jump in without warning. Like Matthew before him, Owen has taken to the water babies class and with his brother's example quickly became comfortable. Owen was also a total champ about being put unceremoniously into big boy beds in both Norwalk and Kentucky. He did very well, only falling out once (!) and has been jealously eying big beds since we returned.

Free time in the pool was such a great thing for the kids. One of the benefits of the heat wave was that the pool was like a bathtub every day. It was comfortable to stay in for hours, well past the point of being waterlogged. Without prompting, Matthew went off the diving board on his own, down the water slide on his own, swam underwater and without floaties. It was such a good time for everyone that we have started going to the Palo Alto Children's pool every week just to splash around. Matthew will explore the whole thing and Owen wants to go down the mini slide over and over again.

When we did emerge from the pool, Grandma and Aunt Jamie found all sorts of fun activities for the kids. We went to the Louisville Zoo, a local splash park, a children's play, the movies and made ice cream. The best part was that we all enjoyed ourselves. We may have reached the point where the fun to effort ratio has risen sufficiently that we don't return from vacation more exhausted than when we left. This is definitely a milestone for us and we hope we can keep it up.