Fourth of July 2008

We spent the Fourth of July with my parents in Visalia. Trey returned home from Mexico late on the night of the 3rd, so we drove on the actual 4th of July. The roads were empty and it was smooth sailing all the way up. When we got there, we swam and had a great bbq dinner. Holden went to bed before seeing fireworks - there was no way he was going to last until almost 9:00. My parents and Trey and I started watching a movie, I think we actually forgot it was the 4th until the fireworks started booming around 9:00. Houston absolutely lost it! He jumped up into Trey and mine's lap and was shaking and panting uncontrollably. We realized this was the first 4th of July we'd been home with him, which explained why we had no idea he hated them so much. We never made it to the back yard to see the fireworks, but instead held Houston while he freaked and finished watching the movie.

The rest of the weekend followed a pattern: eat Nana's great waffles for breakfast, swim, play with play dough, nap, ride bikes, watch movies, swim, feed the turtle, dinner, bed. Holden loved swimming and started to master jumping in, turning around, and swimming to the wall. He even started lifting his head to take breaths while swimming. However, he refused to float. No matter how hard we tried or how much fun we tried to make it, he just wouldn't. Houston was obsessed with rescuing us while we swam. He stood guard on the edge and would lick and nip at us if we came close to where he was. Sometimes he would just impulsively jump in for a "rescue". We enjoyed throwing Houston's ball or a dive stick in the pool, and watch him fret over it. He would usually end up getting in to fetch it up.

The sad part of the weekend was that my parents' 16+ year old dog, Gabby, passed away on July 5th. She had a heart attack and then went down hill from there. My mom held her until she passed. It was really sad, but the whole family was there to see her on her way. Although Trey kept Holden out of the house for most of it, Holden didn't know quite what to make of it, and even still this week he'll ask me "Where Gabby go?" He seems content enough with the answer, "To Heaven".

We had a nice relaxing visit. We drove home on the 7th.

We took Holden to the park on the morning of the 5th.

He wanted Nana Judy to push him "super high".

He really wanted that dive stick.


He stood like this for a couple of minutes before deciding to go to the steps and get in.

Couldn't take it anymore - he's in!


On a mission.


The rescue.


Holden's jump in-turn around-get the wall sequence.

Jumping....

...in!

Turning around.

First breath.

Back under water.

Still under and going strong.

Second breath.

To the wall. I was shooting this with the continuous shot feature on my camera. I lifted my finger off right before he got to the wall because I was so excited, and I started cheering for him. He loved doing this over and over again. We actually had to make him stop because he was getting tired without realizing it.