The kids got to take swim lessons for the first time this year. An awesome girl in a neighboring ward does private lessons in her backyard for a steal of a deal so I signed both kids up. At first they were a little apprehensive, but after just a few minutes in the water they loved it! It was so fun to watch them learn and improve throughout the week. I was hoping they would get their heads wet by the end of the week, but they were both pretty stubborn about it.
P did a great job! He was so funny to watch because he rarely talked but had a huge smile on his face the whole time. He really learned how to do big arms and big legs and loved using his ice cream scoop hands.
Watching, cheering and waiting patiently for each other
Em did great too. She cracked me up because anytime she would focus hard her little tongue popped out. She took a few more risks than P did. She jumped off the edge a few times, blew lots of bubbles and even played motorboat a couple of times. She especially loved blowing bubbles & putting her cheeks in the water. And anytime the teacher asked her to swim to her she stuck out her hands and said, "that's not that far." She really did great!
Well, except for the day she tried to do it all on her own and I had to jump in after her clothes and all. The kids were up playing in the little hot tub. I knew the minute I saw them go up there that I should go too, but alas I decided to stay down and chat with my friend instead. One time I looked up and Em was no longer on the step, but instead in the middle of the hot tub where she could not reach. All I could see was the top of her head bobbing in the water. I ran up the stairs and jumped in as fast as I could. To my surprise she was not choking or gasping for air at all. She just looked at me, took a breath and started to cry. It was obvious that she was trying her best to paddle and kick and just couldn't do it. The poor thing. I told her that she did such a great job and that I could see her kicking and reaffirmed that she was OK and amazingly she was not traumatized and still went through with her swim lesson a few minutes later. What a trooper! I'm still not quite sure how she got into the middle, weather she thought she could swim across on her own, or if one of the boys accidentally bumped her, or if she just accidentally stepped off... not clue. But I am relieved that she is OK. I'm sure I was quite the sight waddle-running my massive body as fast as I could to her.
Overall, it was an awesome week and they did make some big improvements in their swimming and had tons of fun too. Em was truly depressed when they were over and kept asking to go back one more time. Hopefully we can do it again next year!
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