It's only taken six years, but finally Sawyer and Xander are learning to let go.
Last week the boys and I packed up and headed down to visit Grandma and Grandpa at the lake for a really long weekend (Connor was already there on his extended summer vacation). And it was the first time the twins have truly enjoyed it.
Xander has discovered jumping off the back of the boat is just as fun as jumping into the swimming pool. And that's just what he did. Over and over and over. All day. Every day.
Sawyer is not quite ready to leap off the back of the boat. It does look like a long way down if you've not done it before. But he will climb down the ladder and free fall the last little bit into the water. He'll even climb back up the ladder just to fall off of it again.
And more important, both boys have finally gotten comfortable enough in their life jackets to enjoy the deep waters without clutching onto Mommy for dear life. Both of them have mastered the back float in our little backyard pool. Sawyer is a little more skilled than Xander, but both do pretty well. And both have a rough dog paddle down now, too. So they can move on their own. And with a life jacket, they can do so much more.
We spent hours in the water the last few days. Both boys LOVED it. Connor and I have always LOVED it. So it's nice to find something all of us can do together. You know, without the screaming and the tears.
I was fully prepared for Xander's very opinionated self to proclaim "No boat, no swim!" at each turn. Instead, we were constantly questioned about "Grandpa's truck? Boat? Swim?" And then there were tears when it was time to take the boat out of the water and go back to the cabin. You know, for important things like eating dinner.
It was a good trip. Good to see the boys learning to let go. And having a good time doing it.
