GETINTHEHOLE!!!!

Yesterday we all decided to head out to the 2nd day of the US Open. And by "all" I mean 12 of us (7 kids -- age 7 and under -- and 5 adults). We kept getting a lot of crazy looks especially since at one point Justin and Kyle were not with us and it was just us 3 ladies with 7 kids, 1 double stroller, and 1 jogging stroller. Everyone was pretty nice to us except we caught a few dirty looks at one point when we were stuck at a crossing waiting for 3 golfers to tee off. We were supposed to be quiet but babies Sadie and Anna had a lot to say and they had no regard for the men in red jackets holding up their arms.

So we were at hole 3 waiting for Tiger Woods to come through and as we were standing by the rope a stray ball came whizzing through some trees behind us, flew 5 inches from my ear, bounced off the canopy of the double stroller, and landed back on the course in the rough. I was so shocked because the ball was going so fast and almost hit me in the head. It hit the stroller so hard there is now a tiny permanent dent in the plastic canopy window. The perpetrator was golfer Ben Curtis (he will be playing tomorrow in the final round). We had a large crowd gathered because the sound of it hitting the stroller was so loud and confusing. After all, golf balls usually hit grass and don't make such a "THUNK" sound. Thankfully no one was hurt. Sadie slept through the whole thing and Anna barely blinked. After we recovered from our near death experience we stayed put because the boys all wanted to see Tiger but we also stayed very alert so as not to get a concussion. As TW came past us John waved his hand wildly and bellowed in his little man low voice "HEEEEYYYY TIGER WOODS!" Ol' Tiger was either very focused or had no interest in the crowd as he didn't respond to us at all.

Today was a no drama day. We hung out at hole 10 with only 4 children and watched several players come through. Thanks to Mamaw for watching Sadie, Anna, and Luke. The course was so pretty today in the afternoon. The sun was out and from our seat we could see the fairway and putting green of hole 10 and the tee box of 11. Beyond the course was the Pacific Ocean and Kyle even saw some whales spouting in the distance. Very nice picture. It was worth it for the view if anything!

It's driving me crazy that no cameras or cell phones are allowed on the course. You have to go through a metal detector where we are. So annoying. I really don't understand the no cameras. It is weird to be at that event and know that no one has their phone. In 2010? Unthinkable. And no cameras? Dying here!!!

Tomorrow's the last day. I'll report if anything interesting happens to us...hopefully no more stray balls anywhere near our heads!

US Open 2010

Pebble Beach

My nephew, Alex's, autographed hat! They worked real hard for those 34 signatures!

And the recently infamous Tiger Woods signed this one.

Alex and John chillin and watching the golfers. John was really disappointed that he wasn't able to play, only spectate.

Cousins Alex and John holding hands. It was so cute to see Alex (age 7) and John (age 3) becoming fast friends while Alex explained all the rules of the course. He told John, "when the people with red jackets hold their hands up you need to be quiet because the golfers are about to swing"

Until the next update.....

The Legend of Mamaw

For the past few years Granny (Kyle's grandmother) has told a staggering legend of her daughter (Kyle's mom) starting to walk maybe a little later than "normal". BUT the day she started walking she just up and walked all the way across the room. No offense, Granny, but I think we all heard this story and weren't sure what to think of it. I've never seen a child just start walking without a gradual arc of improvement...3 steps one day, 5 steps the next, pulling up on furniture then walking over to a table for stability . At least that's how John started. It was all so gradual.

But Anna....Anna lived up to the legend of her Mamaw. Yesterday we came home from church and I was fixing lunch. I turned around and Anna had stood up on her own and just walked across the kitchen as if she had done it for several weeks. You'd think she had been practicing in some secret place for months. CRAZY!

She's taken maybe 2 or 3 steps before but never just walked across the room without warning. If you had only seen her on Saturday...she was still crawling everywhere. Now she's all over the place! What a difference a day makes....

An Interpretive Dance

As a fan of the reality show So You Think You Can Dance, Anna will submit the following lyrical dance for her audition:

(note the dancing is so exciting at certain points it almost makes her forget she can't walk yet)

More (Almost) Walking Pictures

Nevermind this walking gig....I think I'll just hold on to this strudy train right here...

John - A Certified Guppy!

Today was the last day of our 2 week/every day swim lessons. Phew! Traveling out to Katy every day for 2 weeks for a 30 minute swim lesson is annoying but it was worth it to see John transform from a timid water baby to a little guppy, capable of swimming on his back independently and diving for rings!

There were four kids in his class and all of us moms were commenting today that these kids looked like completely different children compared to even earlier this week! There were lots of tears and screaming earlier in the week.

I think Tuesday was a low point when I took John to swim class and we came to the point where I had to remove his t-shirt for him to enter the pool area (The parents sit behind a two-way mirror so the kids aren't distracted during the lesson). He had been whimpering that he didn't want to go to swim lessons but when I tried to remove his t-shirt the whimper turned into a full blown hysterical tantrum. He threw himself on the ground, kicked wildly, and almost kicked my dress up over my head. I was trying to keep him from banging his head on the concrete floor. So I kneeled down and  finally got the shirt off then John tried to octopus his appendages around me. A guy who worked there finally came over and literally peeled my child off me and took him to his teacher. Man, I was sweaty and totally embarassed but I had to laugh at the ordeal because if you would've seen John the day before (Memorial Day) you would wonder what in the world this freak out was all about? The day before he had been happily swimming about three feet between Kyle and I and Debbie and Papaw, kicking his legs, going under water, blowing bubbles. It was a totally different child. I was confused by the display of crazy but after his 2 minute panic attack he was doing his thing in there.

What a difference 4 days makes. Here are pictures from today. The moms got to go inside the pool area and take pictures and, boy, those kids were showing off all their skills for the mommies. It was so cute!

Kicking with the barbells

That's John going under!

Swam across the width of the pool with the help of Mr. Travis

John's favorite....The Mat Ride! (John's on the far right)

And a video of John floating by himself! Watch for the teacher to show his hands above the water



I didn't catch a video of the grand finale but Mr. Travis threw each kid into the water and they had to turn over on their back and float with as little assistance as possible. 2 of the kids did it solo, John needed a little help turning but with some practice at the pool I think we can get the whole sequence down soon. Very exciting! On to the Goldfish level.....