We had 4 kids in swimming lessons again this year. That is an expensive 9 days and I always dread bad weather that steals away days in the water. We did have one day with lightning that kept the kids out of the water. They made it a safety day and kept the kids inside.
This was Joseph's first year in the pool. He had been looking forward to it! Daniel was gone to Scout Camp for the first week, so it was just me and Sarah hanging out pool side (or on the other side of the chain link fence).
Joseph was in Level One. They take it easy and get the kids used to being in the water. They do something called "washing machine" at the beginning of the lesson which swishes the kids back and forth and then submerges them. Some kids handle that better than others!
This is Joseph in the washing machine (he's in the middle).
This is Joseph's washing machine under the water.
Joseph had to "eat a lot of cookies" to get his belly full enough to float. I'm sure he had no trouble visualizing real cookies. We can still see his ribs, though.
Joseph really likes trains. This one was no exception. He is the 3rd cute kid from the right.
Rebekah was in Level Two this year. (She is the one with both hands on the wall.)
I got an action shot of Rebekah jumping off the wall to her teacher. She showed little fear in the water.
Leah and Nathan were in Level Four together. They were the farthest away and the hardest to pick out through the camera lens. Here they are in the middle of the picture with another kid between them.
They did a lot of swimming back and forth across the width of the pool while trying to dodge the Level Six kids who were swimming across the length of the pool. It was a tricky thing to do!
They also did a lot of diving. There were a few belly flops. Of course. :)
I didn't expect anyone to pass, though I thought Rebekah had the best chance. She did, but the surprise was that Joseph did too! Leah and Nathan get to work at Level Four again next year. This all means that we will have 5 kids in swimming lessons next summer in Levels One, Two, Three, Four and Four! (Sarah will start.) Yikes. I should start saving now.
I have a sense of peace that the kids are learning to swim. Sadly, we don't really go swimming as a family and our tub isn't that big. I hope it's like riding a bicycle.
When you said Joseph was the third cute kid from the right I started counting how many kids there were to the right of him to see how many kids you thought were ugly. ;) Good job teaching your kids to swim. We should get around to doing that some time.
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