Ryan House hosted our family to dinner, games, gifts and the opportunity for Esra to follow Santa and Mrs. Clause around for two hours. You could hear Esra in the next room, "Hold Santa hand!" And then later, "Sit on Santa's lap." She would break through the group wherever he was. The girls had a great time. And I had the chance to sit and talk with other parents while the children played. We all left with happy feelings in our hearts. What a nice evening. Thanks Ryan House!
We have now survived two summers in the desert. And sandwiched in between those summers has been amazing, dry and beautiful desert weather and two little girls saddened that our pool was too cold to swim in.
We have a pool service that comes year round, but we can only swim in the pool for about four months. Once the evening temperatures dip below 75 degrees, it is too cold for anyone to swim, but especially Esra, whose core body temp changes quickly. We wanted to extend our family's swimming season, and we knew we could not afford to heat the pool or buy solar covers. So, why not wetsuits?
We found these O'Neill Toddler Full Frontzip Wetsuits on iSnorkel.com. Estelle is wearing a size 3 and Esra has a size 2. Her legs are as long as Estelle's but her torso is slighter and shorter. We ended up buying some booties to cover Esra's leg. Our rep, Beatrice, was helpful with sizing and care instructions. And our order came fast. Plus, nestled in the packing boxes were tiny boxes of candy. A double treat! The girls are now back to swimming after a few weeks off because of cool weather. They are just loving it.
Now, Sam and I need to get our own wetsuits!
We met angels at the park today. First, it was this girl in the Lakers shirt. She offered to take Esra all around the park. She just pushed Esra's chair and chatted with her through a few laps around the jungle gyms. This girl was old enough to know how to be encouraging and young enough to be playful. And she didn't get distracted by others or impatient with Esra like other kids we meet at the park. Then the younger sister in the orange shirt began to tag-a-long with her scooter. She, too, had a friendly demeanor about her. Not too much later, the little boy with his scooter joined in. The stuck with Esra for awhile. They were quite the crew circling the park. Esra was in heaven!
