Some Firsts

Recently Michael has developed an all out obsession with baseball. Earlier this summer he actually sat through all nine innings of a minor league game. He has favorite players, favorite teams, and likes to watch the umpire to see whether a pitch is a ball or a strike. So this year, after a good long afternoon nap, we let him stay up to watch the first inning of the MLB All Star Game. 

Unfortunately he doesn't quite have the concept of all-star down and kept asking exactly which teams were playing.

Michael never used to sit still to watch television at all - now he'd watch all day as long as some kind of sporting event was being broadcast.

Harper's first was a jump off the high dive at the rec center where she's been taking swimming lessons. I was really excited for her - she just marched up there and did it with barely any hesitation at all. I don't recall the first time I jumped off the high dive, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't seven. She accomplished the feat yesterday, twice, and wasn't sure she'd do it again... "It feels like I'm falling," she explained, "and I don't really like to fall."

But I convinced her to give it another go today so her brother could see it in person - he was totally impressed - and so I could capture the moment.

Climbing the ladder:

Walking the plank:

Jumping off:

And then she did it again so I could get it on video...

As for me, I did something for the first time in a LONG time... bought an academic calendar. In a little over a month I'll be back in the classroom - yikes!