Briarwood block party 2010

Yesterday was the annual block party for those living on Briarwood Drive. The Patterson's at the corner of Orchard Drive and Briarwood host it on the 4th Sunday of August. There was a short "parade" the kids participated in prior to the event which consisted of all the kids who wanted to ride their bikes/trikes from the middle of the street to the Patterson's house. Some decorated their wheels, others didn't. Violet and Calvin rode their trikes at the end of the parade and seemed to enjoy themselves. About 50-60 people came, we all took turns announcing our names, how long we've lived there, etc. Violet drew chalk on the driveway with some other kids, and everybody enjoyed a mexican food buffet. She lost interest in everything else when Curt Patterson stood up and announced that his pool was open for anybody who wanted to swim. She was determined to go home and change into her swim suit as soon as possible. I agreed to let her swim for awhile - so we all went home, Violet changed quickly, and I took her and Vanessa down to the pool. Vanessa and I just sat on a lawn chair by the edge and Violet happily swam (with her life jacket) all on her own, and went down the slide 5 times. She went under the water with no troubles and didn't even complain about not having a towel to dry her eyes off with. It really helped that there were bigger kids swimming all around her. She went off the diving board four times, the first two times she was so scared, she sat down on the edge and turned around on her tummy and slid off (which was a chore considering the life jacket made her get stuck while "sliding" off). The third time she stepped off feet first, and the fourth time, she got a little momentum with the spring of the board (just a tiny bit!) and jumped off. She knew her life jacket would help her float back up to the top and she did great, I was very proud of her. It was a chore getting her OUT of the pool however. I captured some of her slides and jumps on my phone, maybe I'll figure out how to upload a video to my blog later. She was happy to ride her trike home all wet. The "parade": (a few neighbors made the effort to sit outside on the curb and applaud all the kids...it was sweet) Getting ready to line up: They were the only trikers, so they ended up wayy behind the group, but either way they had fun!