1st Steps... Underwater?

So yeah Hurricane Isaac took my power for five days and pretty much ruined my whole "hurrication" that most everyone else had the pleasure of enjoying, but I still had a super fun Labor Day.

Every year on Labor Day, my mom, dad, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, (on my moms side) and myself, get together and have a BBQ/swim party. I love this tradition for many reasons as a whole. My dad and I cook all the barbecue; briskets, ribs, yada yada yada... I love cooking with my dad! I also enjoy spending time with my family. I am the oldest of 7 cousins (all under that age of 10) on my mom's side and love getting so play and visit with them. I also love watching them grow up...

This Monday when we all got together, my youngest cousin William took his first steps, in the pool. He  started to take "swimming lessons" at Crawfish Aquatics over the summer, but had always been a bit of a scaredy-cat and never did more than blow some bubbles. His oldest brother Conor and myself are swimmers and tried to help and encourage him all we could but he just never seemed into it. But when all the cousins raced to the pool this last night he was right with them. He even explained to me how he had brought his special goggles and flippers. "I'm gonna be a fish like you, but faster!", he told me. And sure enough, once I had helped him down the steps, he was off and running. He swam a full length of the pool before her finally realized what he had done. "I DID IT!", he shouted, and we were all pretty much amazed. He had always seemed so scared, but that night he was the last one out of the pool!

I loved getting to see him swim for the first time. He was really proud of himself and I'm super proud of him. Even though it only happened  a day ago... it was definitely the highlight of my break.