Splash!

Last Sunday was a treat for our whole family. I had to work but got a great break in my day when Darcey called to tell me that she was taking Leah to the Sheppard Swim Center, our city pool, for the afternoon. The pool has this area called the Splash Zone which is essentially a wading pool that has several imaginative ways of dumping water on kids' heads. I go to the pool in the summer to find fun pictures for the newspaper of people playing in the water to stay cool.

Well, the Ipocks visiting the Splash Zone was as good a reason for me to head that way to find just such a picture for the paper. I had a nice one of a girl's goggles ending up in her mouth from the force of the water landing on her head before my girls even arrived.

I planned on staying as far away from Leah as possible so she would just play with Darcey without distraction. I had the longest lens I carry, which is primarily used to shoot football and baseball games, a large-brimmed hat pulled down low over my head, and a shooting position that allowed me to squat down into a ball where I hoped not to be noticed.

Well, Leah found me. Quickly.

Despite my best intentions I became part of the family outing and had a wet toddler pressed against me. Darcey did her best to distract her and led her around the area to play. Taking Leah swimming is a goal Darcey has had for a long time and she actually got the chance some weeks ago when she visited Kate and Ellie in Atlanta for a night. The four of them had a blast in the hotel pool. Since then Darcey and Leah have practiced swimming around our kitchen island by Darcey carrying her parallel to the floor and encouraging Leah to "kick, kick, kick." It is a joy to watch Leah take to the water and I look forward to more outings like this one.

Maybe I will actually get to wear a swimsuit.

-Sefton

Strawberries

Darcey and I have been trying to figure out how to get the family out in public more often. It's hard to do much more than go on a walk around the block because of my work schedule and Darcey's school schedule. We look forward to our weekends, but usually end up trying to reconnect as a family and are reluctant to share ourselves with anybody else because of it.

We worry that Leah, like Daisy, won't get enough socialization outside of her little circle and it makes us nervous. I know it sounds strange to compare the upbringing of our daughter to how we raised our dog, but those of you who know Daisy know exactly what I'm talking about. She just doesn't do new people and we want to avoid that with Leah as much as possible.

So yesterday we went on a little adventure to the strawberry patch. We had done a story on strawberry season at the paper and some benevolent reporter brought a gallon of fresh strawberries back to the newsroom which I enjoyed. So out the door we went in search of fruit and new friends.

Once we were in our row, we started to give Leah an idea of what we were doing. I would pick a strawberry, hand it to her and ask her to put it in the bucket. This worked for about half-a-dozen berries before she put one in her mouth. From then on out, Darcey and I were on our own picking and depositing while also trying to make sure Leah wasn't eating stems or unripe berries. By the time we had filled our containers, Leah had become an expert picker but had not mastered the art of getting the strawberries into the basket.

As Leah and I waited for to Darcey to pay at the store, she was waving to people coming in to the farm as well as people leaving. Leah laughed at the farm dogs wandering the property. We made friends with a mother sitting with her newborn in a rocking chair on the front porch. It was a perfect way to spend a morning as a family.

Mission accomplished.

-Sefton