Swimming Lessons

Our building has a pool, and they heat it during the summer.  (That's good stuff, right?)  During the last month, Mike has been taking the boys swimming after he gets home from work, and they love pool time with Daddy.

Zeke usually jumps with all his might, and in this picture,
his knees would end up in Mike's face.

Ben prefers the extra warmth (~94ºF) of the kiddie spa

They were both "swimming" using flotation devices (see "noodles" in above pictures) but Mike said that floaties are crutches used only by weaklings and children.  I pointed out that our boys are children. He said that was unacceptable. Then he hid the floaties in a back closet and told the boys the floaties were gross and moldy and had to go.

Zeke cried at first, then he jumped in the water anyway and, guess what? He swims like a fish.

While Mike was staring at Zeke-the-Swimmer, jaw on the ground, Ben jumped in the pool too.  Ben did not swim or float, however, and promptly sank to the bottom.  Mike saved him, of course, but he still won't give back the floaties.

Solid Math Skills

My friend has a boy who is one month older than Ben.  She was recently blogging about how brilliant he was because he not only counted down the jumps on the bed starting from ten, but he also asked for negative jumps after he made it to zero.
Here is my retaliation:
Ben was on the patio today messing with the plants.  He plucked an imaginary something off the plant and held his fist tightly closed.  He plucked another imaginary something off the plant and held his other fist tightly closed.
"I have two chocolates," he told me very seriously, showing me his fists.
"Can I have one?" I asked.
"No," he said.  "I only have one for Gareth, one for Zeke and one for Dad."
Then he pretended to put both chocolates in his own mouth.

Better pictures

Mike got some much better pictures of the blessing dress:

 Cute baby!

Dress detail.

   Awesome conversation I overheard:

Ben:  Zeke, do you want to press the fire alarm?
Zeke:  Okay.
Ben:  Don't worry, I'll lift you up.
Zeke:  Okay.
(Ben then grabs Zeke around the waist and attempts to lift him up.  Zeke looks up and holds his arm up as if it will actually work.  It doesn't.)
Ben:  Maybe we'll try again later.

Blessing Day

Today we blessed Lily in church and gave her a name for the official church records.  Equally exciting was the fact that it was ward conference and when they announced the names of the ward clerks, Mike's name was not mentioned.  He's been released?!?
It was very exciting to have grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends there to support us.  Zeke and Ben loved having grandparents to play with during Sacrament Meeting.  They got tickles from Grandpa and snacks from Grandma.  Mike and I enjoyed being able to sit together.

My pictures of Lily in her pretty dress all turned out blurry.
Here's the best one I got:

Good thing I have the girl and the dress at my disposal for the rest of the week - we'll try a photo shoot some night when we're feeling relaxed and smiley.  She's amazing when she smiles.

The boys are doting on their baby sister.  They love to hold her and make faces at her and talk for her.  They use high-pitched voices to talk for Lily and say things like:
Ben:  (in Ben's voice)  What was your favorite part of the day, Lily?
Ben:  (in Lily's voice)  I liked....ummm...pooping.  I pooped at breakfast, I pooped at the park, I pooped in the car...
Ah, boys.