Friends

We all need friends.  I know, not exactly a profound statement, but one that is true.  Some need more than others.  Some need to be with friends more often than others.  But the bottom line is that we all need friends.  As moms, we tend to gravitate towards other moms who have a child or children similar in age to our own kids's ages.  And if we are fortunate, the kids will like each other, play well together, and the moms will really like each other too!! 

Last week we had two afternoons in a row in which we spent with friends.  The kids each had a friend, and the moms are two moms that I would be friends with regardless of the companionship the kids have.  It's a great thing!!  And a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  The kids are happy, and the moms are happy.  Friends are a wonderful blessing, and I am thankful for the friends my children are already making, and especially for the wonderful friends that I have made through this journey!

This picture was taken at Padaro Grill in Carpenteria.  A great place to meet friends!

The Ocean is a little scary!

The title of the posting tonight is a quote we heard quite often from Shane today!  Since summer temperatures decided to return to Ventura the past few days, we decided to take advantage and head to the beach.  We rode our bikes (which is a fun thing in and of itself!!) and spent some time playing in the water (that was very cold!!) and the sand.  Poor Shane was not a fan of the cold water, despite wearing a wetsuit!, and was just a bit timid about the water.  As a result, we heard quite often how scary the ocean was and how he wanted to either take a walk or sit on the beach towel!

Steve and I had to laugh about the "scary" situation as it once again pointed out to us how different our two kids are.  Granted, age plays a role, but as we were recalling Faith at age two, she would run in and out of the ocean and was just drawn to it!  Her swimming nemesis was pools!  And since Shane is just so much more adventurous than she was in so many ways (climbing anything and everything, hanging on the counter and swinging, etc.) it's funny to see him scared of the ocean.  While we sit back and smirk, in a way I like the cautiousness he is now displaying!  Just another joy of being a parent...watching them, learning about them, and noticing the little thing that make them them!

On a totally random note, we discovered that if we want Shane to eat something at a meal that he may not otherwise want to eat, all we have to do is put it in a tortilla!!  A few weeks ago I made fish tacos, and I was surprised that he ate an entire taco!  Tonight I made chicken, which he normally will not eat, so we put both his and Faith's in a tortilla, and he ate almost the entire thing!  Go figure!

County Fair

It's that time of year again when the Fair comes to town!  Faith, who remembers going last year, has been counting down for the Fair to arrive once again!  We were able to spend the afternoon there yesterday along with some of Steve's family and our friends Jayne and Delaynee Nord.  Since our kids absolutely love the rides, we have learned that it is the most economical to go on wristband days.  On those days, wristbands are available for purchase that enable unlimited riding of the rides!  And yesterday we definitely got our money's worth out of the wristbands! 

Delanynee and Faith on their first ride of many!  Faith loved having Delaynee there to go on the rides with her!

We also managed to see some of the animals!  Here Faith is feeding a very young goat.

The Farris Wheel!  Thankfully Aunt Renee loves rides as well!  The fairgrounds are located along the ocean, so not only do the riders of the Farris wheel enjoy the ride but also the beautiful ocean views!

Loving the giant slide!

This was Shane's ride of choice!  We think he went on 5 times in a row!  The beauty of enjoying a relatively unpopular ride!

The girls had to see what all the excitement was about for Shane!

Faith made many friends in line and on the rides!

Shane and Aunt Renee enjoying the tea cups! 

It was a great, fun-filled day with family and friends!  Faith is having a difficult time deciding which ride was her favorite...I think she loved them all!

Go Fly a Kite!

One of the items at the top of Faith's birthday list was a kite.  Being the wonderful parents that we are, we obliged!  Since her big day a few months ago, we have tried a few times to fly the kite.  One time it was too windy (and we discovered the challenges of getting it out of a tall tree!), another time there was not enough wind.  But the other day we had a perfect day for flying a kite!  Faith was ecstatic to be able to fly it herself, and she actually did pretty well!  And I think the other people at the park enjoyed seeing the lovely butterfly in the sky as well!  For flying the kite, the third time was the charm! 

Steve is getting the kite started before letting Faith take over!

Faith had a tendency to head for the trees, but Steve was always able to steer it clear of them!

Pure enjoyment!

Despite not flying a kite himself, Shane had a great time just hanging out!

Such a little man!

Faith's Perspective

One of the latest fascinations at the Poelstra house has been taking pictures.  Faith was given a kids digital camera a few years ago, and like all toys, she'll play with it for a while, then it becomes buried in the sea of toys until it reemerges once again.  About a week ago the camera was resurrected from the toy box, so for the last week, Faith has been capturing the days events with her camera.  While her picture taking skills have improved over time, she still takes quite a few interesting shots!  I like to think of them as artistic!

Case in point!

And yet another artistic shot

The camera also joined us on our most recent trip to the zoo!  It made an ordinary trip to the zoo extra exciting!  While Faith intended to take a picture of all the animals we saw, here is what turned out...

A black-necked swan

Flamingos!

And yet another artistic shot! 

Other than taking pictures, we have been keeping busy going to the park, attending a parade, and eating dinner outside!  We look forward to going to the fair next week!

Swimming Lessons One Year Later...

It was a year ago that Faith started swim lessons.  As I sat watching her today, I was filled with amazement at the progress that this little girl has made in one year.  When she began, Faith would go in water...as long as her feet could rest comfortable on the bottom.  This greatly limited her enjoyment to knee deep lake or ocean water and the steps of a pool.  And now, she is jumping in, going under water, diving for rings - the list goes on. 

Driving to lessons today, she had one of those moments where life went from good to bad and she declared that she didn't want to go to swim lessons today.  Being the sensitive mom that I am, I didn't take her opinion into account and continued to drive.  The sullen look on her face as she walked to the pool signaled to her teacher that this was not a happy moment for Faith!  I uttered a "good luck!" and sat back to watch. And what I saw was her attitude quickly change as she swam and played in the pool!  She now loves to swim!  Today was her best lesson all year!  The weeks of trying to get the arms and legs to move at the same time clicked today, and she actually looked like she was swimming!  What a difference a year can make...and a lot of hard work! 

Here she is putting it all together!  She still needs to work on the whole breathing to the side thing - when she needs to breath the head lifts and down go the legs! 

Practicing arm strokes on the noddle

So while we aren't ready to give Bob Bowman (Michael Phelps' swim coach) a call, I couldn't be more proud of the progress this little lady has made in a year.