It's Summer Time!

Well, it's Summer time, and that means that it's time for some Splish 'n Splash fun!  We love the water park here on post, and the weather has been so beautiful that I've been trying to use it as a bribe encouragement to get the kids to get their school work done so we can go as much as possible.  After all, it is approaching monsoon season here, and if it's anything like last year, we won't get to spend much time at the pool.

This wasn't our first trip to the pool, but I had my camera with me today to snap a few of the kids having fun.  We've been trying to get Grace to go off the high dive since the waterpark opened this year, but not even her little brother going off and thinking it is "awesome!" could convince her to to do it.

There goes my little dare devil 

David doing his crazy flips 

As we were eating and watching the birthday boys open their gifts, this little princess fell asleep.  This picture doesn't do her pose justice, but when David put her down, she didn't move a muscle - her legs remained up in the same position as they were when they were wrapped around her daddy.

The kids had gone off to swim and David and I were just hanging out talking when Grace came up to us with this matter-of-fact look on her face and said, "I'm going to go off the high dive."  We immediately grabbed the camera and said, "All right.  Let's go."  She marched right over to that ladder and headed up. 

And then she got to the edge...

She did not want to go anymore.  Any self-confidence she had built up had jumped off that board before she got to the end of it.  It took a few minutes of trying to coax her off the board before I finally said, "Look, this is me being the mean mom.  There are people waiting to go off the board, and you cannot go back down the ladder.  Just go to the end of the board and step off.  I'll be right here at the edge of the pool waiting for you."  So, with tears in her eyes, and a pitiful, petrified look on her face, she jumped... 

...and she loved it!

Though she really didn't want to admit it initially, because that would mean that Mommy and Daddy were right.  "You'll never know unless you try it.  Sometimes you've got to get past the scary part to realize just how much fun something can be." 

Then we couldn't keep her off the high dive

(But she only did it because David wanted her to)

"Daddy, I'll go off again, but only if you want me to." 

 After the birthday party, we met some friends over at the Food Court for dinner.  Unfortunately it was to say good-bye, but it is that time of year...  A time of year I absolutely detest because I've made some really good friends here, and I don't want them to leave!

With my dear friend, Jen McWhirt