tales from a far-land

Over the summer break, we had quite a few moments to share in some quality time with our friends and family members.  There was time to swim and play.  Time to light candles and eat challah.  Time to celebrate the Suns advancing in the NBA finals.  Time for the kids to spend time with their cousins.  Time for Aiden to participate in an all-sports camp with his friends.  Time for sleepovers and shopping excursions to the mall with friends.  And time to enjoy just a little break from it all. Pool Time Friends Time Suns Sweep Cousin Time Sports Time Mall Time

This past June, Madilyn and Aiden participated on the Moon Valley Country Club swim team.  Moon Valley is one of several country clubs in the Valley that have joined together in a swim team league for kids.  The kids practiced their strokes every week day morning.  And then, on Thursday evenings, they competed in a swim meet against all of the other country clubs' kids by age group.  The league awarded ribbons to all of the kids at the end of each heat.  Some of the age categories had several heats.  And then, after all of the heats were tallied, then the top five kids in each race would be awarded a medal.  Throughout the month, Madilyn (no picture) earned one medal and Aiden earned two (see below).  From my vantage point, the kids seemed to have a good time.  As a spectator and first time family, we really enjoyed the whole program and were a little disappointed that we didn't engage our kids in this program earlier in their lives.  Th...

Summer 2020 was an unusual one.  It was a summer of cancellations.  No fireworks for 4th of July.  No Jewish summer camp for the kids.  No blockbuster movie releases.  No family reunions or gatherings.  No swim team or summer sports.  And yet, we were able to find so many silver linings. We enjoyed swimming in our pool with family and friends. Josh constructed a screen in the backyard so that we could watch movies as a family and with friends. The kids did enjoy a couple of sleepovers and playdates. Family shabbat almost every week. A couple of trips to the cabin in Munds Park. Morning walks with the dogs. Family celebrations for holidays and birthdays. Pool time with Sydney and Campbell And Hope and Faith And Addison and Ben And with each other Movies on the Big Screen Sleepovers/Playdates with Gretchen Father's Day Pizza Night Summer Shabbats

Another blessing of being quarantined at our house is that the kids were still able to stay active in our pool.  An hour of swim time was part of their daily curriculum and, thankfully, our kids love to swim.  In order to spice things up a little, we purchased some additional pool toys like a Slip N Slide and a giant floating Cube.  It made their swim time a little more exciting and less mundane. Josh trying out the Slip 'n Slide Madi's turn Aiden too! Lounging poolside  Or in the pool Water babies Trying to surf in the pool The Cube