Summer is here!

Summer is here. That means going to the pool, ice cream, and fun times with my favorite girl!

Swimming at the Y
Today I took Anna Claire to the Y for her first swim of the season. She picked up right where we left off when I stopped taking her last fall - kicking her legs, putting her face in the water, fetching a target thrown at a distance - she remembered all of it.

We saw her last year swimming teacher while we were there and I asked her if there was a class for her age offered this summer, and she said it would be the same exact class as last summer until she turns 3, so we will wait. She and the lifeguard did show us how to tie a noodle around Anna Claire's waist to give her a little more independence and buoyancy. Anna Claire LOVED the noodle. She's talked about it all day today! So cute.

Hugger
Anna Claire also has developed a reputation as the class "hugger", even hugging her friends at naptime. The hugging has carried over to home. We saw a beautiful brown butterfly with blue and orange spots yesterday, that really seemed to like Anna Claire. She unfortunately shared the sentiment, chasing it, and hollering, "Hugger!" trying to hug the butterfly. I protected the butterfly and shooed it away from the hugging. :)

"Bary"
Larry and I took Anna Claire to the public library this afternoon to return library books and to pick up a few new. She always enjoys walking through the area with the toys, and making friends with any children who may be playing over there. She walked over to a little boy, about 3 I'd say, and said, "Hiya! Fwiend!"

I swear to you, he held up his hand to her face and said, "No! No! No!" Made me so mad.

About 10 minutes later, after we had browsed through the book area, she came back through and saw a castle wall, and showed us, "Castle! Castle!"

The same mean boy who at this point was playing on the other side of the library ran over to Anna Claire and yelled at her, "No! No! No! That's my castle!" *sigh* We just removed her from the situation so she no longer had to be subject to his ugliness.

Berry Bear
We took Anna Claire to Berry Bear afterward since I got a $2 gift card from school. This was only her second time there. She loves the fruit flavors and fruit toppings! One happy little girl today. :)

Bedtime Prayers
After several months of modeling bedtime prayers for Anna Claire, she is doing it on her own. She is naming her sweet friends to be blessed and prayed for and naming things that we did that day or things that she is thankful for. Last night it was all about her blanket and paci - very grateful for those 2. Tonight she was really naming her friends - named everyone in her class! She also was thankful for the noodle she used swimming this morning. ;)