Summer Pattern

This is the third week since schools let out in Baton Rouge, and the city is firmly situated into the rhythms of Summer. Traffic is better, people are out until late, and packs of camp kids broadcast noises from unexpected city blocks.

After being mostly away the past two weeks, our kids started camps this week. Vanya is doing dance, arts, and music at a camp that he seems to be enjoying quite a bit. Kolya is going to one that seems pretty similar to preschool. Let's face it, though. Preschool is a day-long session of dicking around in fun ways that also happen to be educational for little kids. Drawing, Play-doh, songs. It's a pretty good day compared to yours and mine.

I took K to his first day yesterday. He was all into it as he held my hand and marched across the parking lot. By the time we got into the classroom, there was a little tear running down his cheek, and when he saw that I saw it, he went into full-blown leg grabbing at full strength. It's not nearly as heartbreaking as when toddler Vanya got nervous, as I know that K is one of the bravest little kids ever. He's certain to ask his skydiving instructor to set his jump suit on fire on his way out of the plane, just to up the adrenaline rush a tick or two.

I got him to a table where he could write and draw, and he didn't look back as I scurried out the door. At the end of the day, he had great things to say about camp. He described is teachers as, "REALLY nice" and claimed to like camp better than school, which is saying something.

Today, he wanted me to walk him into the building, but let him go through the classroom door by himself so that I wouldn't be seen. That's the Kolya I know.

He has really shown off his bravery at the pool this summer, doing spinners off the side deck or jumping recklessly in over his head in an attempt to beat kids twice his age and two-and-a-half times his height to a loose basketball. Sunday, he decided he was ready to jump to me off of the diving board. Sometimes, he landed right in front of me so I would easily lift him out of the water. Other times, he would plunge so deep that I would actually have to dive down and swim a couple of strokes to get deep enough to grab his little arms. He would be swimming toward the surface and grinning under water.

Here are a few recent pool pics, from a day where we waited about 3 hours for the little local storm to pass before they reopened the pool. As soon as we got in, there was one more rumble of thunder, but a lifeguard took pity and declared that it was only a passing truck.

Getting ready for a spinner

Deep water ring retriever.

Happy underwater boy.