Love and Laughter

Yesterday we went swimming. I'm so thankful for a sweet friend who offered up her pool (and her ear, her laughter, and her crew of kids) to make the day great. Vika LOVED the pool. She had told me she could not swim but it turned out she did know how. And I am using the word "swim" loosely here- as there was lots of flailing arms and splashing at first. But hey- no one had to jump in after her so I call it swimming!! 


She LOVED the diving board and despite the fact that every single attempt at diving ended up a belly flop - she kept trying. We just learned to laugh as her head popped up smiling and she insisted it didn't hurt and went back to try again. Despite lots of instruction- even by my friend's son who speaks Russian-  she just couldn't seem to bend at the waist! But she was smiling the whole time and said it was her favorite of all the things she has done so far. 

Her new favorite

And with that.... her "bucket list" is complete. Looks like its time to dream some new dreams, Vika!!!

And for those of you who think the updates aren't enough and want to be a fly in the wall while we are hosting, I have to share these videos. Vika has loved "Dance Now" on the Wii and would play it 24/7 if we would let her. Aiden has watched her so much that he wants to join in and dance, but he watches carefully the whole time to make sure Mom isn't pulling out her camera. If he even thinks I might be taking a picture or filming he scurries away back to privacy. So I usually get lots of video like this..... 

But on one rare occasion he forgot to keep one eye on Mom and I collected this rare footage of what happens when Aiden stops being shy and lets the real rock star shine through. Do NOT mention this to him because he will NOT be happy with Mom - but when you are 6 years old there is no real legal recourse, so......

The end is the best. Wait for it.... wait for it...... 

Happy Wednesday!

"I believe there is a direct correlation between love and laughter." 

                                                                      - Yakov Smirnoff