Summer Swimming Lessons

My kids look forward to swimming lessons every summer. They love water. It's always hard for us to find 2 consecutive weeks in the summer where we are home, but at the beginning of August we made it work (August 6-16).

Mitch did excellent this year. I was so impressed with how well he did. I love this shot of him and his class getting ready to "dive" into the pool.

He can swim! What a big boy!

Chloe also loves water- always has. Her first few years of swimming lessons, she was a strong, exceptional swimmer. In the last year or so, she has kind of been at a stand still. We were hoping she would improve and make some good strides this summer.

Waiting for his turn (happily)!

The back stroke

I'm pretty sure jumping into the pool was Mitch's favorite thing ever. Oh, and he loved diving for rings at the bottom of the pool.

Walking to the deep end- Chloe loved swimming in the deep end.

Her turn on the diving board.

And... a very casual jump into the pool. At least she doesn't fear the deeper water.

Waiting, waiting.

The twins were super bummed that they couldn't take lessons. The pool we went to this year doesn't allow anyone under 3 to take lessons. The girls are just 2 months shy of 3, and they are potty trained, so I tried to get special permission for them to get in, but it didn't work. The first two mornings, they cried when they couldn't get in their swim suits with Chloe and Mitch.

I was looking forward to watching the big kids swim and seeing their progress every lesson, but I found out after the first session that staying in the pool area was not going to be possible for me. I have discovered, within in the last 6 months, that bleach/chlorine is a trigger for migraine headaches for me. After the first lesson, I quickly got a migraine that lasted for the rest of the day and evening. I was bummed! (So was Chloe).

Lucky for us, there is a playground right outside the doors of the swimming facility. The twins and I played outside for most of the days. Win-win for the 3 of us- I escaped some nasty migraines and the girls had a blast playing on the toys (and being distracted from the fact that they couldn't get in the pool).

I did want some pictures of the kids and did want to see some of their swimming, so I sat in on 2 more lessons and just breathed through my mouth only, so as not to smell the chlorine. It worked pretty well, but made for a long lesson for me. But it was worth it.

The girls had a blast together.

These two are quite the pair- I love watching them grow up together. They really are becoming best friends. They can fight like cats and dogs, no doubt, and know what buttons to push to get the other one upset, but when it comes down to it, they are best little buddies and truly love being together. I was telling Leah the other day that Ben is my best friend. I asked her, "Who is your best friend?" She thought about it for just a second before replying, "Lexi."

While getting changed in the dressing room one day, Mitch (who was already dressed), climbed into a locker to wait for the girls. It immediately took me back to 3 years ago when he did the same thing at swimming lessons.

June 2009, not quite 2 years old.

The kids had a great 2 weeks. Chloe didn't make quite as much progress as we were hoping- at least according to her instructors- but I was sure impressed with what I saw, compared to a few months ago. She gave great effort and really listened to what her teachers were saying. She improved and made great progress. We were proud of her. Ben got to come one morning and watch the kids, which was a special treat.

Mitch did wonderful and really shined. He is so comfortable in the water and an aggressive little swimmer.

To celebrate a job well done, we went to Dairy Queen after our last session. The twins asked when they could go to "swimmy lessons" and I said when they were three. They have been talking about that day ever since!