Checked Off!!

Spoiler alert: I checked off another thing off of my 30 before 30 list, and I went waterskiing!!!

But first, here are a ridiculous amount of pictures from this last week.  NaElle (my sister) and Cody (her husband) and their kids were in town, as was my brother Noah.  They all live in Idaho, where chances for swimming are fewer than they are here in AZ, so we spent a LOT of time in our swimsuits...which was a blast for everyone involved.  

Maggie's not the biggest water fan, but she always loved showing off her "Captain America" swimsuit and playing in the sand.

Molly stole my phone and took a selfie, so now I'm getting her back by posting it on the internet.  Nyah! :)

Clark wanted to bury me in the sand--this was about as far as they got.  They did manage to sand off all of my sunscreen, though, and that night I had a MAJOR sunburn on my thighs.  Ouch!

NaElle's son, Crue, LOVED fishing.  He didn't actually have a hook on his fishing pole, but he carried that thing around with him all day long.  It was adorable.

Cousins!!!

McKay--my baby brother who is growing up way too fast for my taste.

NanaDee and Maggie Maye--NanaDee was the child-chaser, which was helpful for me.  I get pretty nervous having three young'uns around water, so any extra eyes are helpful to me.

Jack--he learned to swim this last week!  Before, he's always been willing to kick his legs and wave his arms so long as either Steve or I held on to him, but this week, he got more adventurous and swam clear out to the deep part in both places we visited!  I was pretty proud of him--he still needs either floaties or a life jacket, but he's getting so much more confident, which makes me happy.

This is the Caldwell's pond--a nice little place just across the highway from my parent's house.  It's stocked full of fish (which was a bit unsettling for me, as the fish seemed to really like how I tasted--I got bit several times while wading/swimming around in there), and it has a lot of really fun things to do.

I love these two beautiful ladies.

Maggie was happy her life jacket had pink on it--in this picture, she's saying, "Piiink!"

Noah was a fun uncle and took Clark, Maggie, and Jack for a ride in the paddle boat--Abe was super helpful and pushed them off.

Two words: Farmers tans.

Steve didn't get to swim the first day, as he had to leave early for work, so he observed.

Good lookin' guys....

Clark got brave, too, and by the last day, he was willing to go deeper than his feet could touch!  He still hasn't quite grasped the concept of moving his legs, so he usually just kind of floats in place while wiggling around, but it's still fun for me to see him being willing to try to swim, at least.

After swimming, Maggie helped Daddy do his hair.  Cute, huh?

This is a picture of the floating dock at White Mountain Lake--Jack swam clear out to play with Molly and Daddy on his own, with only floaties to help him!  I was pretty impressed.

This was the same lake I was able to waterski on--Cody's parents have a boat, as well as all of the equipment for waterskiing, and so they gave us each a chance to try it.  It's hard, something I'd heard beforehand, and I genuinely didn't expect to even be able to stand up on the skis, but I wanted to give it a shot so I could at least check it off my list.

Cody, however, is an excellent teacher, and from the first moment I was in the water, he was shouting incredibly helpful instructions at me, which made all the difference.  My first round in the water, I gave it three tries--I was able to get up each time, but I quickly lost my balance after only a few seconds standing, and so after three shots I decided to take a break and got back in the boat for other people to try.

After a little while of watching everyone else attempt, I got back in the water.  The first three attempts were all no go, and I was starting to feel guilty for taking up so much time. As the boat came around to bring the handle back to me, I shouted out an apology to Cody--"I"m sorry I'm not getting it!  Let me try one more time!"

He shouted back, "Don't say sorry, and don't try!  Just do it!  Just get up and waterski!"

Stubbornly, I thought, "Well, okay then!  I will!"

...And I DID!!!!  It was such a rush--I made it up for an entire round around the lake, which was so fun--then I got ambitious and tried cutting across the wake, and wiped out entirely, which I'm sure was fun to see (I got quite the bruise--see?),

But I did it.  I waterskied!!!  

Check.