Milestone mania: E plays soccer, learns to swim; H turns 2.5, K rides a bike, J learns to sand

Dearest blog fans and lonely web surfers, if you like cute pictures of the kids and embarrassing photos of adults, are you in for a treat.  

H turned 2.5 on July 22 and celebrated it with presents and cupcakes:

E made H a few drawings for his birthday

I know I'm biased, but this is one cute kid

H contorted himself while playing with a contorted balloon animal

My favorite picture of the day

After "swimming" every day in the Adirondacks (think: floaties), each of the kids has been going to twice-a-week swim lessons as well as spending Saturdays at the pool. H is more confident in the water and E is actually swimming (puts her face in, gets horizontal, and uses a stroke-plus-kick that fitfully inches her forward). She also holds her breath and finds diving sticks under water. 

 E also has hour-long soccer practice on Saturdays. She's the tallest (although not the oldest) one on the team.

Note the tongue (from her mother's side of the family)

Note the impressive form and yet lack of movement (from her father's side)

H takes a selfie

Daddy time last weekend included the zoo, a carousel, and expensive hot dogs (haute dogs) and shakes in Park Slope.

I spent a long time with my new (ie, very old) electric sander

And last (but most importantly) Kate is learning how to ride a bike