THAT child

I was really hoping that my child was not going to be THAT child.  (You know, the one that throws up on her swim teacher because she was crying so much.  Yep, that one.)

But she was. 

Her poor swim teacher.  I think I apologized like a zillion times. 

Guess Alayna is not as fond of the by-herself-swim-lessons as I hoped.  So we're now the newest members of the parent/tot class.

So much for enjoying not having to wear my swimsuit to swim lessons.....

*sigh*

Swimming Lessons

Layna and I took swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer.

My fearless, independent girl was actually a little more tentative in the water. But by the last day I could tell she was feeling a bit more comfortable. I even dunked her a few times and she did great!

Here we are. She was enjoying herself despite the look on her face. See, she was smiling most of the time.

When we got home, she sure was being silly. Apparently we didn't wear her out enough. Darn. I was ready for a nap.

A member

Alayna has now joined the club of "people who like the swimming pool".

It's a shame she wasn't a member of the club sooner.

Like when we actually lived in a place that was sunny and warm for nine months of the year....

Instead of a place that is cold and wintry for 9 months out of the year.

But we'll take what we can get.

She was a bit tentative at first, but decided that she would give it a try.

And before we knew it, she was all smiles.

It really does make a world of difference when your child actually likes the swimming pool as opposed to the screaming baby last year.

A little video for the grandparents:

Vegas

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go to Vegas with some of Dan's family. It was a blast. Here are some pictures of our trip.

The drive to Vegas. This picture may be a bit deceiving. You may think that our ride consisted of a baby sleeping peacefully the whole way. Think again. Alayna actually only slept for about 15 minutes. (It wasn't bad though, considering the trip is only about an hour and a half from St. George.)
Here she is sporting her Wyoming shirt. Go Cowboys!

Uncle Phil and Alayna matching. (Minus the bib.)

What a rock star! Cousin Ashlyn was kind enough to share her sparkly heart sunglasses with Alayna.

Daddy and Alayna sitting in the Cheesecake Factory. Notice the "not-so-thrilled" look on Dan's face. Alayna had just threw a nice tantrum. She was exhausted and wanted her bed, but alas her bed was three or more miles down the strip so Daddy's arms had to be good enough.

(Note: Her crying was loud enough that people from other tables kept giving us the evil eye, but what are you to do when the restaurant you are at is in Caesars Palace and it is a good fifteen minute walk to even get outside? So we just let them stare. And she really only cried for about 10 minutes.)

We can endure a little crying when this is the result.

We went to The Flamingo for lunch one day. The kids loved watching the flamingos. Even Alayna enjoyed them for a couple of minutes.

We loved spending time with family. Ashlyn and Jace were so good with Alayna. They were so cute to watch. Jace made sure to let me know what Alayna was doing at all times. Ex: He would say, "Baby Alayna crying." every time she cried.

Here was some Ashlyn and Alayna play time. (Ashlyn and Alayna are the only girl grand kids on Dan's side of the family so it was fun watching them spend time together.)

Probably the favorite thing to do was go swimming in the incredibly warm outdoor pool at the hotel. That is, everyone enjoyed it EXCEPT Alayna.

Here is a rundown of her first swimming experience.

Daddy and Alayna getting into the pool.

Just chillin' with Daddy before he puts her into the water. (Notice, no tears.)

The "I'm-not-so-sure-I-like-this-look".

"Yep. It's official. I do NOT like this one bit!"

Daddy, will you please get me out of here!

What a sad face.

We really thought she would like the pool considering she LOVES baths and the water felt just like a nice warm bath, but it was a no go. We even tried it twice and the results were the same.

I video taped it, but the majority of it is her crying. I think we are going to bathe her in her swimming suit a few times before our next attempt. Maybe she will like it then.

We had such a great time! Thanks Thad and Ilene!