Swimming Lessons

Yesterday was the littles last day of swimming, and Erik did not disappoint. He did no less than TWO flips this year (last year it was one). His poor little back got all red from the resulting back-flops. The flips were in amongst several cannon balls which "make a huge splash!" He also got a few turns on the rope swing, "Indiana Jones style".

Anna braved the rope swing only once. I thought she did a great job, but she dropped into the water a split-second before the instructor expected her to, and hence, got a little more water over her head than she would have liked. It scared her out of her second try.

My little Erik improved so much over the past month. To give you an idea. This little guy (only five, mind you - well for a few more weeks) dove off the diving board into 10' deep water, swam to the edge of the pool, and got out, all by himself. He did that over and over and over for about 20 minutes. Yea, Erik!

And my lovely little Miss Annabelle. So many of you have asked how the swimming lessons were going after that first blog last month. I am happy to report that she improved greatly with every trip to the pool. Not only did she warm up to her instructor, she warmed up to the water, and swimming in general.

It was so fun to watch my little munchkins learning and interacting with the outside world in such a positive way. I had Djeryd by my side on the bleachers each lesson. It was really nice to have a companion (although we will have to forego that in the future as it is Djeryd who really needs the lessons - no more sitting on the sidelines for you, buddy). Great kids. Happy day.

Anna Takes the Plunge

Swimming lessons began on Tuesday for Erik and Anna (Djeryd said: "No, thanks," which is a good thing because he is at Cub Day Camp this week and does not get home until swimming lessons are almost over). Erik was fine and knew exactly what to do (this is his third year). Anna, however, was worth a story. The forty-five minutes (start to finish) proceeded as follows:

:: Anna is excited to walk across the field to swimming lessons. She dons flip-flops and wraps her pink towel around herself.
:: We arrive at the pool and she freezes, stiff as a board.
:: I gently walk her over to her instructor, with much more stiffness from her.
:: Her instructor offers to hold her. This works.
:: Anna begans screaming "I don't like it!!!!" once the instructor has her stand by herself in the water and hold onto the wall of the pool.
:: Anna continues to scream.
:: I began to sweat. What should I do?
:: The instructor picks her up again and does bobs with her and bubble blowing.
:: Anna starts to cry whenever her head nears the surface of the water, but then stops the second the instructor shoots up.
:: Once Anna is consistantly giggling, the instructor puts her back on the wall with the other children.
:: The screaming re-ensues.
:: The sweating re-ensues.
:: I collect her from the pool.
:: We sit on the bleachers and wait for Erik to finish.
:: The last five minutes, all of the kids start to dive, including Anna's class.
:: This is Anna's favorite thing about the water: jumping in it.
:: Anna decides she wants to jump in with the other kids, but classes are now dismissed.
:: No problem, Anna's instructor lets her jump in after all of the other kids are gone, and before the next class starts.
:: They bond with a high-five.
:: Anna gets out of the water, walks over to me, and then refuses to put her flip-flops on for the walk home.
:: She wants "mermaid hair" (wet). She wants to go back in the pool and soak her head.
:: After a brief struggle, involving a lot of screaming on her end (and, of course, staring parents), I simply pick her up and carry her home.
:: She screams her head off the ENTIRE walk home because she wants wet hair.

Does anybody want to cover swimming lessons on Thursday?