swim days

One of our favorite summer activities in Iowa is "swim days", courtesy of the fabulous Sister Cropper. The Croppers are a family in our ward (local church congregation) who open up their pool to the ward members and their friends every Tuesday, all day. 

I know. 

When I grow up, I want to be like Sister Cropper. 

My girls LOVE swim day and start talking about next Tuesday on our way home from the current swim day! 

I think Leah feels free in the pool. She's really good at kicking and moving around to where she wants to be. She just graduated to this life jacket this year and it worked great! She's tall enough to stand in the shallow water, but still kicks and swims everywhere too. 

Kate has become a little fish and loves kicking and floating on her back (this is her smiling - seriously - she is grinning here). She thinks she can jump off the side of the pool, but really she's just hopping and then I pull her in. 

Kate got so used to seeing Sister Cropper in a swim suit that when she saw her at church recently she looked at me and said, "Mom! Sisser Copper all clean!" 

There's always an abundance of food and friends and we usually spend about 3 hours there just soaking in the sun. For now we've packed away the sunscreen and hung up our suits and towels to dry. Can't wait until "next Tuesday" June 2015.