Blogging Matthew-Style

Can you feel the excitement?! Matt-hew Demp finally has a blog!

Check out Insert Life Here for regular musings about life Matthew-style. To start, Matt has posted a summary and photos of his recent High Uintas, UT, camping trip. He has taken some unbelievable images of an incredible landscape, not to mention a cute moose or two.

Matt has just returned to California, Venice & Malibu to be exact, and is about to embark on an MBA program. We're looking forward to hearing stories about his grad school adventures.

Pigtails! Pigtails!

Following in Maddie's footsteps, Amelia finally has pigtails! She's not fond of mom putting on the elastics, but once they're in, she doesn't realize it... yet. She's such a big girl now - I can hardly stand it!

Keeping cool... it's hot, hot, hot!

It's been a hot, hot, summer! Thanks to wonderful grandparents, we have a great way to stay cool... the Meadowmont Swim Club. Just about every day, you can find Amelia splashing about and keeping cool.

Today, the thermostat topped out at 100 degrees and the Brinson girls raced to the pool. It was so hot out that the water felt like a warm bathtub. None-the-less, it was refreshing to take a dip.

She's very friendly at the pool and likes meeting the other kids. A few days ago, Amelia befriended a little girl who wouldn't stop hugging her. Evidently, the little girl found Amelia to be very snuggly!

You have to keep a close eye on her as she's been known to "pick-pocket" toys when kids aren't looking. One of her favorite things about the pool is the green wheelbarrel filled with toys. We make many many trips to the wheelbarrel to check out the treasure it holds.

Amelia sometime spends more time out of the water than in. She loves to carry her bucket into the pool and then out of the pool... and then back in and out once again. This can go on for our entire visit!




At the beginning of the summer, Amelia and I took "Mom and Tot" swim classes to learn the basics... kicking, scooping, going under water, blowing bubbles, and "jumping" off the side. I can't say that Amelia loved our classes. She was pretty tried for most as it was really nap-time. Since then, we've made great progress! She goes under water like a fish, blows little tiny bubbles, and has been known kick once or twice. (Truth be told, her favorite place to "swim" is the bathtub. She blows lots of bubbles and kicks like a fool in her tiny "swimming pool.")

Each day we end our swimming with a little snack time. Today it was raisins. Amelia loves raisins and especially the little boxes they come in. You better have more than one box on hand to keep the raisin monster at bay!