Pool Party

For Independence Day this year, our family hit the road (wait...that's what we do every year!). The night of July 3rd we went out to my (Damon's) folks' house.

Cayden and Avery were pretty excited about getting their hands on the toys that stay at Nana & Papaw's house:

Entertainment for the evening was provided by The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly...powered by D'Lynn, and acting in conjunction with a song on a cassette tape. It's a doll that's almost as old as I am (she grayed earlier than I did, but I'm getting there) that was used in classrooms originally and now hangs out in the back closet at Nana and Papaw's. After hearing the sad tale of her eating all sorts of odd things (a fly, a frog, a spider, a horse, etc.) that ultimately ends in her death, we decided there was a reason kids didn't sing this song anymore. We now live in an enlightened age where everything for kids has to be politically correct and possess some degree of educational content (or at least involve a few Spanish words) in order to receive mass acceptance. Other than not eating bugs and farm animals - valuable lessons, certainly, but not nearly important as "please shut the door" in Spanish - The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly unfortunately falls short in this area. Oh well, here's a picture...

For July 4th, we headed to Gammy & Papa's (Erin's parents) and spent the afternoon playing in the pool. You may have heard, we had a world-class diving competition in the back yard. If you missed it, well, you definitely missed out. But there was a good representation of onlookers and spectators from all walks of life ready to witness the festivities.

A local Hawaiian princess:

White Tiger, equally at home on the picnic table as he is snuggling in bed with Avery. He's never had a bath. We just try not to think about where all he's been. Once we have to change his name to "Brown Tiger" or "Dingy Tiger" or even "What's This Stain on Avery's Tiger?" he's going to experience the inside of a washing machine.

This guy:

An excited little boy:

And the snail found a friend! I wish this had happened on its own, but it was completely set up. I like the duck's eyes looking up at him, they make me smile...

And with our audience gathered, we could begin the diving competition...

The Little One didn't have quite the variety of her brother, so just take the following and multiply it by about 50 and you'll have an idea of what Avery did...

This makes me laugh...she's down there...somewhere...

Papa got in on the action...a little blurry because he moves with cat-like quickness, but worth sharing nonetheless:

And not everyone was a willing participant. Don't worry, the wedding's still on...

And this guy wasn't much of a diver, but could swim like nobody's business:

Brief modeling intermission..."Hey ladies, when I'm not in the pool, I like to sit beside it..."

And the Little One ended up with my hat at one point, and clearly felt guilty for the theft:

When diving got boring, the children turned on me:

You can see all of the plastic balls floating in the background...they made fantastic weapons:

They could also serve as a muscle suit/flotation device if need be:

And they're not just for kids anymore! (featuring Justin, Andi's fiance)

Andi is clearly in awe...

And finally, here are a few pictures of the crew just hanging out:

Normally a July 4th blog would end with fireworks...this one ends with a drought and burn ban. Oh well, a good time was had by all nonetheless! All these pictures can be found in the Just For Fun Gallery of DamonWestPhoto.com, if you care to go comment on any of them. Thanks for reading!

Damon