Pool time

During the summer we spend the majority of our weekends at the pool. Cole is a good swimmer but I stay by his side the entire time. Sadly a little boy drowned at the pool we go to several weeks ago. We still don't know all the facts about what happened, but every weekend I see so many moms that are more interested in getting tans than playing with their own kids. Lifeguards are not baby sitters. So many parents put their kids in the water and then go lounge on their chairs reading or talking to friends. "Stay in the shallow end", they say and then seem oblivious to their children. The kids rarely stay in the shallow end and even if they did, they can still drown. You would think that a child's death would be a wake up call to all parents, but so far every weekend we have seen the lifeguards have to jump and and get someone and the parents are never in the pool. Saw one yesterday and today! Enough of my soap box.

Cole and I always have a great time swimming. It is like being a kid again, as he makes up new games for us to play. Today we were scuba divers on a "secret mission". A "tortedo" boat fired "tortedos" and our job was to dive and find them before they exploded. Cole had a plastic torpedo that when thrown really glided far underwater. We would swim to find it and then he worked out hand signals underwater for the rest of the "recovery mission". In no time two hours had passed and we had saved countless lives from torpedo blasts.

On a side note, Cole and I both really want to learn how to scuba dive...wonder how old he'd have to be to learn?

Poop Sticks

Yesterday morning I had my lunch made and on the kitchen counter. Cole wanted to help me get our stuff together so I told him he could put my lunch in my tote bag. He grabbed my bag and loaded it up. He said, "Mom, I packed your lunch on top of your poop sticks." I said, "My what...what are poop sticks?". He plucks out a tampon from the bottom of the bag and looks at me like I'm so dense and sighs, "Mom, theeese (waving it in the air). You know the things you put in your butt after your poop. Poop sticks!" I looked at my mom and we laughed. At 6:15 in the morning it was much too early for an explanation and anatomy lesson. Glad we don't really have to use poop sticks!

Butt Papa

Can you see what the imprint in the stone is? If you guessed a butt, you are right! This is what Cole made my dad for Father's Day.

For Mother's Day, Cole made my mom a stepping stone with his feet imprints. My dad kept giving Cole a hard time, asking him how come only she was getting one, where was his, etc. etc. The thing about my dad is that he can ask over and over and not get tired of messing with him. Cole usually ends up annoyed. Later that night, he said, "I should give Papa one with my butt cheeks". We laughed and I said that could be his Father's Day gift. I love how boy's minds work.

So last night, we were mixing concrete in the privacy of our backyard and Cole quickly made his everlasting impression. We were cracking up the entire time.

I can't wait for Sunday!

Sharing a love of science

Cole has been lucky. Last year I took one of my science classes during the summer. During summer school, he really gets to help. He had so much fun, helping me with my science project that he did his own during Kindergarten! This summer, I'm taking my last class and it is another science class. I love science and Cole does too. The first week of this course has been about the stars (among other things). On Thursday night after class, I drove all the way home to pick up Cole. We headed back to campus around 9pm to go to the observatory that is on the roof of the science building. We met some of my classmates and my teacher from last year (who was thrilled to meet him after seeing his photos in my science project presentation last year - she even remembered how old his was!). We had a great time looking at the planets and mapping the stars and constellations. Cole was thrilled. It was a great way to spend an evening. My teacher was impressed with how much Cole already knew about the stars.

I get to go back outside in a few minutes to do some more mapping tonight. Ignore the crazy lady in the driveway mapping altitude and azimuth!