Gracie the Hero

When Grace was little I was going to write a bunch of children's books based on her daily adventures.  I was going to title them things like "Gracie the Brave" or "Gracie the Funny", etc.  I might still do it...one of these days...  Anyway, today I am going to tell you about Gracie the Hero. 
We were at swim lessons.  At the end of class, the kids had some free time.  They could jump off the diving board to the teacher or they could play in the shallow with water noodles.  Both Grace and Lucas chose to play with a noodle.  They were straddling them and riding them like a horse so the noodle was curved into a U shape under them.  They both were sort of drifting toward the middle of the pool which didn't concern me because they were both floating securely on the noodle.  Until Lucas capsized.  No worries because he still had one hand on the noodle.  Not for long because he let go of the noodle.  I tried to call to him to hold on to it still but I think he was already in a bit of a panic.  We was doing a good job trying to swim up to where he could breathe but was just in a spot where he barely could not touch.  I had Daphne in my arms and was getting ready to put her down at the same time I called the teacher's attention to Lucas' situation.  She was just helping someone to the edge that had jumped off the board and headed right toward him.  The next thing I saw was Grace.  She had been next to him the whole time and had tried to help him up unsuccessfully from her seated position on her noodle.  So she jumped off.  She got off her noodle and sank to the bottom herself, but what I could see her doing under the water was putting both her hands on her little brother's waist and trying to lift his head above the water.  I was so proud of her.  She was more worried about making sure that Lucas was okay than herself.
This whole story happened in about 10 seconds.  Maybe 15, but no more than that.  Grace's part was only about the last 3 or 4 seconds before the teacher grabbed them both and pulled them up.  I won't say I wasn't a little panicked myself but I saw the whole thing start to finish and so I saw the end coming soon enough that I knew no one was going to be hurt.

While we were eating lunch today, I called Grace a hero.  She said, "I'm not a hero, Mom" and I told her that she was because she had tried to save Lucas in the pool.  She got a big grin on her face and said, "Well, I tried to lift him up but he was just too heavy!"

what the?

A friend shared this on her facebook and I had to share it too.  I wonder if it's real or photo-shopped?

YUBA!!

This year we told Grace and Lucas that we would take them to Uncle Chris' lake for their birthdays.  Yuba Lake has these great little cabins that made camping with a baby soooo much better than our tent.  They have electricty which allows you to have lights, a microwave, a refridgerator and most importantly, A/C!

Right outside the cabin door, looking at the lake, waiting for breakfast to be cooked.

Daphne, sitting out on the table while I cooked breakfast.

We got to use this great little 4x4 to go explore some of the trails around the lake. It was fun to all be able to go together.  (That is Daphne under the polka dots.)  We stuck to the easy trails since there was a 10 week old on board.

Holding on so the wind doesn't blow off Luke's hat. 

In the cabin.

Our fun day of 4x4's, fishing (which lasted about 5 minutes after they saw the jetski's get put in the water) and jetski's ended with some rain and a smashed finger in the car door.  Ouch!  Grace's ring finger got pinched and pretty swollen.  She was proudly bending it by the next morning though.

We are now entering the "mom, take my picture" portion of the trip.  They were having fun being silly for the camera while we got the campfire ready for s'mores.

Sitting around the campfire.

The lake on our last morning there.  Gorgeous!

My brother kept prompting the kids that Uncle Chris was their favorite uncle.  They were teasing him back....  Thanks for a fun vacation Chris!

Track star

Grace joined the track club this summer.  The coach is awesome!  It is amazing that he can get 100 kids with ages ranging from 6 and up to run for 2 hours twice a week.  She has had so much fun!  They practice 2 nights a week and then also have track meets.  It's so fun to watch her because she is just running for fun right now.  I figure that one of these days she will catch on to my competitive spirit, but for now I'm okay with her learning to enjoy what she's doing! 

Watch this video with caution! As Buck described it, there is a screaming banshee in the background.(I have turned in to my mother...except I like to make the excuse that my kid is deaf and therefore requires louder screams! [lol])  These hurdles were the cutest things I have ever seen at a track meet in my life!

so far behind

Lucas had his cute preschool graduation clear back in May and Grace had her kindergarten program in June.  We have been enjoying summer and have been too busy to blog! Plus, I got a new computer and am still figuring out pictures and stuff on here.  I think I've got it down now.

leaving...

I'm so sad that one of Luke's friend's family is moving from our neighborhood.  They aren't going far but it's farther than down the street!  They were playing superheroes a while ago and I had to get a picture of them together.  It was so cute!

Addicted

We have been working on getting Lucas to stop sucking his thumb. At one point he had stopped except for when he was asleep and not aware he was doing it. Then he got a new sister. Tonight I said to him, "Lucas, you are sucking that thumb way too much." He told me, "I'm not sucking my thumb, mom. I'm just wetting my finger."

I looked it up

Grace: mom, what is the name of that girl on my shirt?
Me: it's wonderwoman.
Grace: no, what's her first name?
Me: oh, I'm not sure. I think it's Diana.
Lucas: no it's helga.
Me: i actually think it's Diana, pal.
Lucas: no, it's helga. I looked it up.

A talent I do not have...

My wonderful and very talented friend Aubrey came and took Daphne's newborn pictures last week.  Like I said, she is very talented and they turned out beautifully!  Thank you Aubrey!  It is always nice to have some really good pictures to put on here every once in a while.  My snapshots always leave something to be desired...
I did contribute a little to the project.  I quickly made her little pettiskirt the night before her pictures and the button headband.  But all the rest of the awesomeness here is due to Aubrey. 

Spring recital

Grace had her spring dance recital at the first of the month.  She LOVED her rainbow costume this year and especially loved that they were dancing to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".  She is a huge Wizard of Oz fan.  With the addition of the baby, these were the only pictures I got of her that night.  I did record her dance in her first show (they do 2) but will have to post it later....  She has come a long way from her first recital when she tried to crawl off the stage and she is a fantastic little dancer!  She has loved her teacher, Miss Kris, that she's had since she was 2.  Miss Kris isn't teaching at her dance studio anymore but Grace has outgrown her classes this would have been her last year with her anyway.  But either way, she was sad that she won't be in Miss Kris' class anymore.  I'm sad that she won't be here for when Daphne is old enough to dance!