3,2,1 Jump

Last Saturday, Vic decided that Lexi needed some one-on-one time with us.
She loves her sister dearly,
and is usually very happy to work around Ryleigh's nap schedule
and let her tag along on play dates, at the playground, at the park, etc.
But every once in awhile,
it becomes clear that she's a little jealous of the attention Ry gets.
The game "family" was a popular one at preschool this year and during play dates,
and it seems that Lexi and her buddies all liked to pretend that they were the baby -
likely because of the younger siblings they have back at home.

Anyway, getting back to last weekend...
Lexi and I agreed that an outing with just the three of us was a wonderful and overdue idea.
So, we got a sitter for Ryleigh around dinner time.
And while they were busy enjoying some mac n cheese
and pushing around the baby doll stroller before bed,
Vic, Lexi and I hit up the neighborhood pool.

Our big girl decided she was ready to tackle the diving board.
Unlike our old pool in CT,
you can't go in with them in case they need a little convincing
or a little help swimming to the wall.
I wasn't sure if she'd have the nerve to do it - it's a fairly far swim.
But Vic climbed up the high dive, right next to her,
and before I knew it, they were counting down and jumping.

She took to it easily and confidently
(remember this is the girl who didn't like putting her face in the water in June)
and jumped again and again and again.
Even mom joined her on the high dive and relived some good o'le Cruiser Club days.
It was a blast for all three of us,

and it was awesome watching our little girl take on a new challenge.

Afterwards, we went to the shallower end and practiced our swimming,
had jumping contests off the wall, sat on the bottom of the pool,
dove for toys and threw Lexi super high into the air time and again (Vic).
Then, we took turns going down the water slide - just the three of us.
Alexis was on cloud nine.
In fact her quote earlier in the evening was, "The is going to be the most fun night - ever!"

She couldn't have been more happy, better behaved, more excited.
It reminded us just how important it is to make time for both of our girls,
to give each of them our undivided attention once in a while,
to make special plans with just mom and dad.
To say "yes, yes, yes" on a beautiful summer's night.
From the pool, we headed off for frozen yogurt and then pizza...in that order.
Because, why not?
We let Lexi stay up with us while we had a glass of wine and she watched one of her shows.
We snuggled on the couch.
We talked about our night and watched her diving board video over and over.
We listened to her - without interruption -
and I think it's safe to say that all three of us had a wonderful, memorable time!

We sent her off to bed promising to do it again once more before the summer fades away.

And of course we also need to plan something special for our sweet Ryleigh soon too!