Swimmingly

Another hot, sticky day, and we spent nearly the whole of it at the pool. For this swimming adventure, we walked to the nearest outdoor pool - Freibad Dornberger, which is about 1.4 miles west of our house. It was a nice walk along the neighborhood footpaths.

The summer school break just started here (it's six weeks long), so the pool opened at 10:30. It's a regular chlorinated pool, which Sam was happy about. He didn't like the smell of the natural swimming pool we went to on Wednesday. Grace loved the toddler pool. She spent the whole time there, scooting around and scooping water.

Grace gets lots of extra attention because people are curious about the hot pink kinesiotape she wears on her shoulders. Other than being stylish, it helps give the muscles around her shoulder blades some structure. While we've been in Germany, I've been putting it on her myself, and I don't think I've screwed it up. (One of her occupational therapists usually puts it on her when we're in Texas.) When Grace was younger, I once put some kinesiotape on her when we were visiting in Minnesota, and Grace ended up with a tilted head for the next week.Katie split her time between the big pool, the splashing pool, the playground, and our picnic area on the towels. She really got her money's worth.Sam was either jumping off the edge of the big pool or going down the water slide. Isaac hung out with Grace and me in the splashing pool, and when he was wore out, he took a snooze in the stroller.
The pools in Bielefeld don't have lifeguards - this was a huge surprise to me at first. I asked the folks sitting next to us on the pool lawn about this - they said they don't think there are any more swimming accidents than at a pool with lots of lifeguards.Cherry trees around Bielefeld are loaded with fruit now. This is a cherry tree we passed in somebody's backyard on our walk home from the pool.Sam and Katie were incredible travelers. After over four hours of swimming in the sun, they hiked home without complaining one bit. I am so proud of them. Since it was so hot (and they were so cooperative), it was a three popsicle day.Stopping for a gummi bear break.Isaac and Grace were completely spent.Dave spent the day in a hot seminar room listening to math talks. Hee hee.We'd only been home a few minutes when Yuma and Jagoda knocked on the door, asking to play. Sam acquiesced.Crashed out at the end of the day.
Isaac has figured out how to grab his toys while he's in tummy time. Dave thinks Isaac is showing left-handed tendancies. So far the oldest three kids are righties like me. Dave is hoping Isaac will take after him.