{the park}

Last day of tennis today. Gerard was totally in his element -- they played a game that Coach C. called "tennis hockey" and Gerard loved being the goalie. Of course Morgan loved throwing the tennis balls all over the place.

After tennis we went to the park for our regular Wednesday playdate. Morgan is absolutely fearless, which terrifies me. Luckily, she's also very coordinated so she really can handle the various steps/stairs/ladders/slides/etc. I'm actually much more comfortable with her on the playsets than I was with Gerard at this age. She is also very happy in the sandbox which makes me very happy since her feet are planted firmly on the ground.

Of course, Gerard is happiest with Maddie. Aren't they cute?

{swimming, anyone?}

As I mentioned in my last post, Morgan took an unexpected dip in the pool yesterday. Since many of you have asked about it, I thought I'd share the whole story. Let me start from the beginning...

Gerard's friend Logan's grandparents have a pool at their house. On Mondays during the summer we swim there along with our other friends that we met in preschool. Gerard really looks forward to Mondays. Ah, who am I kidding -- we ALL look forward to Mondays! Last year, Gerard had to wear his life vest to swim, but by the end of the summer he was down to arm floaties. He's now showing some interest in swimming without any floaties so I'm going to sign him up for another swim class.

Morgan, on the other hand, can't swim at all. She's only 2, for goodness sake! I try to put Gerard's old life vest on her, but she usually takes it off. When she's in the pool she obviously leaves it on, or happily lounges in her little inner tube.

Well yesterday was a little chilly so the kids went in but the adults did not. Morgan didn't want to go in either and I can't say that I blamed her. She played around the sides of the pool and then started playing with some of the little floaty toys that were IN the water. She did not have her life vest on. I told her several times not to lean over the edge of the pool, but she just wouldn't listen. The adults were all chatting and I looked over to see her reach for a ring and fall into the pool. Needless to say I ran over, jumped in and pulled her out. She was almost at the bottom of the shallow end. She was a little freaked out by the whole incident, but after getting warmed up and dried off she was back to playing. She told Daddy "I fell down. In the pool. It scared me."

But she was just fine. I'll be signing her up for swim lessons, too...

{run, forrest, run!}

For those of you who don't know me well, let me tell you how much I enjoy running.

I hate it.

I can spend forever on the elliptical machine, I can walk for miles, but I DO NOT RUN. Not unless I'm being chased by a large dog. Or a man with a knife. Or Morgan is hanging precariously from the monkey bars. Or Morgan falls into the pool without a life vest (yes, she fell in the pool yesterday).

Several of my good friends are runners. I feel pangs of guilt every time I see Jayna run by my house. Robyn runs marathons. The rest of you know who you are. Me, not so much. Let me share a story with you to help put it all in perspective....

Back in college at SUNY-B (remember when it was called that?) people used to run around the "brain". The road that traveled through campus was called the brain because of its, um, brain shape. My dear fit friends Robyn, Ilene and Aldine were among the brain runners. I, however, was not. One day I decided to give it a go and when I returned, defeated, I told Robyn that I only made it to the mailbox. She seemed quite impressed, figuring of course that I ran THE LONG WAY to the mailbox, not just the short stroll (which probably amounted to less than .1 mile). I'm not sure I ever corrected her assumtion. (Now you know, Rob!)

I do have a point here other than to completely embarrass myself.... I ran a mile today! Woo hoo! Yay me. I didn't set any records or anything, but I did it. I know many of you are thinking, "so what!?" but I am proud. Please forgive me for gushing. :)

{games}

When you don't have family nearby and your regular babysitter goes away to college it's hard to get a night out alone. Here in our state they frown upon leaving a 5 year old home alone with a 2 year old. I can't figure out why. My dad and uncle nearly set their house on fire when they were home alone and they were much older. Gerard and Morgan would be much safer. We don't have any shoe polish that needs to be softened. On the stove. Near the curtains.

Luckily, our friends across the street don't have family here either, so we watch each others' kids about once a month. This past Saturday was their "date night" so we watched Ashley and Nicole. Nicole has offered (on more than one occasion) to trade Morgan for Ashley. Tempting, but I think Gerard and Ashley would kill each other if they had to live in the same house. They are way too much alike.

Anyway, it's cute how great Nicole is with Morgan, and Morgan LOVES Nicole. She wakes up from her naps asking for her. Her first words upon waking are usually "Go outside" and "Nicole?"

Here they are together -- Nicole is teaching Morgan how to use her Nintendo DS.

And here are just a few more pictures from tennis this morning:

{new phone}

Just FYI....I got a new phone and I'm back in business!

{what's a phone for, anyway?}

I've gone and done it. I'm a f*cking clutz. I've dropped yet another cell phone. This one still works (I can make and answer calls) but both the internal and external screens are dead.

So that means I cannot see who is calling and I cannot use my phone book. And who the heck knows phone numbers by heart these days?

So that means I cannot call anyone because all my numbers are stored on the phone and I cannot see them. I cannot text. I cannot use the mobile web.

So that means I'm screwed. 'Cause we all know that a phone is considered broken if all it can do is make and receive calls, right?

{t-ball}

Gerard had his last t-ball game this morning. Based on his birthday he really should play t-ball again next year, but we're going to bump him up to machine-pitch. He's already a little bored with t-ball... they don't keep score, there are no outs, they swing and swing and swing until they hit it (or use the tee), and they can only advance once base at a time. He's ready for more. So today really was his last t-ball game. EVER.

Here are some pictures from practice, a few of Morgan really paying attention to the game, and some of the post-game ceremonies. I didn't get a chance to take any during the game, but Shauna's brother was there taking pictures so hopefully he'll share them with me and I'll be able to post them.