Biking and swimming and friends, oh my!

I had every intention to update this post with pictures--and forgot to recharge the camera so it's effectively dead.

So you'll just have to imagine I've posted something pretty here.

This week has been busy, getting settled after a week away, prepping for another trip coming up soon. I've been a little bemused watching Andrew and Evelyn. I was never terribly social as a kid. I was happy to play with the neighborhood kids, but I was also happy to entertain myself (sometimes I preferred it). So it's been hard to know what to do with Andrew, who's never happiest than when he's with people, and he seems to have a pathological fear of being by himself.

Although we've been here almost five (!) years, this is the first year that my two oldest children have integrated themselves into a loose neighborhood gang (not, obviously, gang in the dangerous, pejorative sense). Andrew has free range of our street on his bike, and most days find him and one or more neighbor kids patrolling the streets or playing games at someone's house. I'm happy for him, as it gives him something to spend his energy on. But it has been fascinating to watch this evolution.

Evelyn doesn't have quite the same range, but she does get to ride her bike out in front of the house and often this translates into riding down to the neighbors, who have three triplet girls just a year older than she is. There, a couple of other seven-year-old girls also congregate and they seem to get along just fine.

Oliver would like to roam outside, but his range is severely limited (by his mother, not his own inclination).

Saturday was Andrew's first swim meet, which was an enlightening experience all around. First lesson learned: don't bring Oliver to any more of Andrew's meets. Keeping Oliver occupied and away from the water turned out to be a full-time occupation, and I could generally only keep him contented enough to let me watch Andrew swim by giving him something to eat. Evelyn was also pretty bored, so we might divide and conquer for future meets. Dan was one of the timers for this meet (since the meets are staffed by volunteers, they ask that parents contribute about 8 hours of volunteer time during the summer). In retrospect, I would have much rather had his job.

Second lesson: I love watching my kid swim. Even though Andrew was far from the fastest swimmer, he was able to swim the full 25 meters of the pool, using the appropriate stroke. That, to me, is pretty impressive. His biggest problem is that he keeps wanting to pop his head up to see where the other swimmers are, which, not surprisingly, slows him down even more. Bubby and Poppy were able to come watch his first two races, which was fun. (And related to lesson #1: Poppy saved the day with a judicious application of otter pops. Oliver squealed--loudly--when he saw his.)

Third lesson: it's crucial to put cornstarch on the swim cap before they wear them the first time otherwise it's intensely painful (we learned this the hard way. Luckily another mom was there and showed us what to do). Also, you need to put them on over the forehead first, and then pull back, not the other way around. (Also learned the hard way. Poor Andrew).

In other news (only for the die-hards)

Dan and I had dentist appointments and the hygienist told me I have nice teeth. (I'm putting this here so my mother can see it: thanks for all the time and money you spent on my orthodontic care!) And told me horror stories about people who don't brush their teeth for weeks at a time. Excuse me. I think I need to go brush my teeth again . . .

I've been working on slowly decluttering the house. This week's project was the computer room.