Parenthood - 2015-08-20 Marathon swim

August 20, 2015

I've been working up to it for over a decade, but I finally did the marathon swim to and from the point although there was quite a wind, the water was choppy and the island swim was cancelled out of caution in case the nearby storms suddenly headed our way.

Elizabeth has been eyeing the point swim ever since her friend Rachel did it last year. She started by swimming out to the trampoline by herself. Then home to the cottage from the beach. As she gained confidence she became more and more insistent that she was going to swim to the point.

Although it was choppy the water was really warm (78F / 25C) so we decided Elizabeth could try. She wanted to swim out (and maybe then swim back) but because the wind was in our face we talked her into swimming back instead in order to avoid her first long swim being into the waves. Matthew and Daddy paddle-boated her out to the point and then she swam the 500 metres back!

I was really impressed by how well she did. She clambered out at the end all shaky and exhausted. Afterwards we had pancakes and a long nap! We got back to the cottage just in time to avoid getting soaked by the storm that finally arrived.

The kids have faithfully biked every day and I'm really noticing a difference. Elizabeth is now really comfortable driving over the 'bumpy' grass. Matthew started out very timid and wanting me to hold him (or better - hold his hand!) complaining constantly that he was falling off (ie tipping). We think he must have fallen and scared himself because he had been doing super well at first and then suddenly didn't want to ride the balance bike at all anymore. In any case, two weeks of daily rides and he is now cruising down the big hill with his feet up high - he can coast quite a distance! His braking still leaves something to be desired so there have been many negotiations over how far up the hill he's allowed to start without having mommy to slow him down. As Grandpa J used to say - watching the kids tear down the hill gives me kittens!

It was still a bit rainy so we decided to go to Dorset for emergency groceries (okay, so I wanted more ice cream...) Elizabeth bought herself a Beanie Boo stuffie called Specks. It's an elephant of course. When we got back from Dorset, the weather had cleared and we all congregated back at the beach for another swim.

On August 24, 2015 at 03:10 am
Grandma H said:

Wow, Elizabeth we are very proud of you (and you too, Mom!)