Swimming

Last month the kids were able to take swimming lessons at the aquatic center. Matthew has taken lessons before, but it was Rachel's first time. We were a little unsure what her reaction would be as she's going through a "mama's girl" phase... which she's been in since about birth, but that's another discussion for another day. At any rate, we were curious as to what she'd do. After all folks, it's now August and the child still won't go to Primary alone. Okay, okay - another discussion for yet another day. The great thing we had going for us was that she and her cousin were in the same class, so we figured that they'd probably be more comfortable together. We knew, at the very least, that it would be entertaining to watch.


Let me also say from the start that I was a little challenged when it came to taking pictures of the lessons. Our camera is a simple one intended for not very technologically savvy folks - perfect for me, but I found that it was so blasted bright out by the pool that I couldn't really see the display screen. This little beauty (see below) is one of my favorite pictures. (I didn't realize that I had even taken such a nice picture of cement until I had gotten home.) Sheesh, it's amazing I got any pictures at all. :)









Bailey was my spectating companion. She was not always happy to stay in the stroller through the whole lesson, but overall, she was a super little gal.

Rachel's teacher was darling. Both Rachel and her cousin really took to her immediately. In the picture below they are playing the "chop, chop" game. The kids all lined up along the side of the pool and they got to choose what kind of tree they were going to be. Then the teacher would go to each one and "chop, chop" them down -- and the kids would jump into the pool. Cute idea. The funny part was how gosh darn creative our kids were in choosing what type of trees they were. Generally the type of tree they chose was very curiously related to what print was on the swimsuits they were wearing that day. :) If Rachel wore her Dora swimsuit, she was a Dora tree. If she wore her rainbow suit, she was a rainbow tree. Her cousin fluctuated between being an orange & blue tree and a shark tree. Funny kids.

Matthew is proving to be quite a good little swimmer and really enjoyed lessons. For the record (and for anyone who may be feeling anxious or concerned at this point), his teacher does have a head. I just cut it off in this photo. I'm not sure if it is to be blamed on the sun and inabilitly to see the display (as with the lovely cement shot), or if it was merely that I was focusing on the looker in the black swimsuit.

Here's the whole swimming crew having a little "raid the diaper bag of all snacks" break.

I'm very happy to report that swimming lessons were a huge success. Both of my kiddos and all of their cousins loved the lessons and did a super job. I was very proud of all of them! We'll definitely be back next year!