Summertime Swimming

Finally, finally... for the first time we enrolled our kids in swim lessons this summer. Well, we actually only signed up the girls because both Emma and Andrew were in the age group for the mom & tot class, and I didn't think I could handle both of them in the water!

Emma had a blast when she wasn't didn't think about what was going on. For the first week, I swam with her each day and she would kick and blow bubbles while holding on with a death-grip around my neck. The second week, she wanted to be a big girl and play a little with Sarah's class. She mostly stayed on the steps, but had fun anyway. Her teacher's name was actually Sarah, and she really clung to her and loved her. It was sweet.

Sarah was in a pre-school aged class and had 2 other girls with her. She did pretty well considering we haven't taken our kids swimming more than once or twice a year. By the end of the two weeks, she was actually willing to go under the water all by herself. It doesn't sound like much, but it really was for her. I was a proud little mommy.

My parents were in town during some of the lessons. While I was busy taking pictures of the girls one night, I glanced over at my dad and Andrew and found this: my normally busy and mischievous little boy sitting calmly with his arms folded. He sat there for a good 5-10 minutes this way too! I couldn't believe it... not my boy! I asked my dad later if he threatened the kid or something, but he said that when Andrew was trying to get away he just said, "Andrew, behave." And, just like that... must be a grandpa's touch.

The week Emma swam without me, she spent a lot of time glued to her teacher, Sarah's side. It's been over a month since lessons, but Emma still asks me a couple times a week, "We going to sfim yessons aday?"


A couple weeks after lessons, our friends invited us to a neighboring city's pool one weekend, and we were so happy we went. It was a perfect pool for the kids. A huge section of it was like a beach where you could just walk down into the water. It didn't go deeper than 2 feet or so. It was nice that the kids didn't get nervous, and Dennis & I didn't have to worry much either.

This was Andrew's first experience in a pool, and he absolutely loved it. He would walk out into the water, invariably lose his balance and fall, and then when we frantically scrambled to get him up, he would just smile and start the whole thing over again. He is so brave about the water - and has absolutely none of the hesitation our girls usually have.
Truthfully, I have to say this was his second experience in a pool. One night at the end of swim lessons, we went to a friend's house that has an outdoor, underground pool in their backyard. Just the girls and I were swimming, but Andrew would come and sit at the top of the steps and splash around a little, then find something else fun to do, come back, and so forth. On about the third time around on his little cycle, he stood up after splashing as if he was going back to his toys. I was on the deck, and I looked down and saw him COMPLETELY submerged in the water with his head lower than his toes. I grabbed him upside down by his feet and Dennis rushed a towel to us. As I wrapped him up, Andrew realized he didn't get to swim and he started screaming at the top of his lungs. He wasn't hurt, scared, cold, or gasping for breath - he was furious that he didn't get to jump back in!!!

Emma found this little toy truck. Try as she might, she couldn't get the thing to float.

Sarah - what more can I say?

The three little cuties watching the "big boys" (Daddy's) jump off the high dive. It was quite the show.