Swimming

Mae stayed overnight with us last night & was up at 6:55, raring to go. (I was NOT raring to go at 6:55)  After breakfast we headed up to my sister's house, arriving just after 10:30. We visited with she & my BIL, a couple of the nephews & my niece for awhile, then went swimming around noon.  Mae was so excited to go in their pool; the only pool she's ever been in is the little blow-up pool that we have. My sister had bought water wings for her, which were attached to a back piece so she could float really well. Mae was a little hesitant at first, but my sister & brother-in-law (top row) were showing her how to kick her legs and move her arms, & within 45 minutes she wanted to try the slide (middle row). Then  another one of the nephews showed up and came out to swim too. Before long she was giving him orders to jump off the diving board (which he did) and she just shrieked in delight when he stayed underwater after jumping in and then came up right in front of her. She asked him how he knew where she was, and he said he just looked for her. She said YOU OPEN YOUR EYES UNDER THE WATER? WOW!!!!  So she asked him to do it again, so he did....and again.....& he did. Then he told her he needed to rest.  He's in the bottom left, taking a break with the family dogs who are waiting for him to throw the ball into the water. The grey poodle is Willie and Bruno is the lab. Willie will gingerly enter the water to get the ball but comes right back out. Bruno leaps into the pool with great gusto and always beats Willie to the ball. Mae was in the pool for almost 4 hours, and we really had to watch her as she was feeling pretty cocky and thought she could paddle all over by herself. My brother-in-law told her she had to go with "the Muskie" because she was just a little minnow, which she didn't get until he explained she was the tiny little fish and he was the Big fish and the tiny fish can't go anywhere without the Big fish along to protect her, to which she replied "Oh, that's so sweet"--made us all laugh. After we came out of the pool we had dinner and then my sister took Mae for a ride in the side-by-side. We didn't leave until about 6:30, and I don't think I'd been driving for more than 10 minutes when she was sound asleep. Such a fun day!