we really are better parents

so the southern california spring weather has been about as predictable as...well, the weather. 80's one day, 60's and raining the next. last friday started off pretty well, the boys pestering their younger brother (with love, of course).

while asher slept we headed to the pool in our complex, even though the water was frigid, we spent a little time splashing around

the boys took turns "pushing" me into the pool. they said i had a big splash, "like shamu". not sure how to take that one. at one point, ryder followed through with his push a little too much, and ended up taking a header into the pool, giving himself a nosebleed and a terrifying 4 seconds of underwater fun.

please note the tramp stamp. please also note that i got it in '97, long before they started calling it a tramp stamp.

this is literally the instant that ryder fell into the pool the second time that afternoon. i had looked at him about 8 seconds earlier, then heard annie scream, "babe, get in there!" given the fact that i was on the opposite side of the deck, i had to shallow dive through the 3.5 foot water to get to the other side as quickly as possible. fortunately by the time i got there ryder had already started pulling himself out so i just pushed his butt up to help him out.

we trimmed some old bird of paradise flowers, and finished off our time with juice boxes. apparently isaac thought we hadn't had enough excitement, since he also took a dive into the pool shortly after this picture. we are not sure if his was more deliberate than his brother's, but either way annie scraped up her knees bending down to haul him out.

i swear there is no need to call cps, we really do watch our children very closely, and in order to keep them from being terrified of the water, we even celebrated their attempts by saying, "you did it!" (by the way, "i did it!" is the first thing isaac said when annie pulled him out and why we think he probably jumped in on purpose.) then we add "just tell us when you are going in next time so we can be in there with you."