Here, fishy, fishy, fishy

Yesterday was the last class in Annika and Conor's session of swim lessons, which equates to the kids having a lot more fun time in the pool.

After Annika's class performed their proficiency exam (of sorts), they headed to the diving boards and got to jump off the low and high dives for about 10 minutes. I doubt Annika could have imagined a better way to spend the last third of her class time. They started off on the low dive, but quickly migrated to the higher option. A couple of the children in her class balked their first time off of the higher board, but every one of them did take the plunge. It was really neat to have all of the parents clap and cheer as each child overcame his or her fear of that first big step. Annika was fearless, so didn't get the crowd support, but did get many parents laughing when she shouted "Geronimo!" during one of her trips from the high dive to the pool.

While Annika's class was enjoying the diving boards, Conor's class also got to do something special, too. They donned life jackets and went into the deep end of the pool for the first time ever. The boys were a bit tentative at first, but had a great time once they were able to put their faith in their life jackets. Their teacher helped them work on their kicking and crawl stroke. The teacher also had the boys hold onto pool noodles and he swam around with them in tow, which they thought was loads of fun!

Our kids are always shivering when they get out of the pool ... they're also smiling from ear to ear at the end of their swim lessons. We definitely have two little water-loving fishies on our hands, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

Annika's high-dive escapades

Everything is better in slo-mo!!

Conor's first time in the deep end
(he's in the blue life jacket)

Conor's enjoying the deep end of the pool

Swimming Lesson Firsts

Yesterday was a great day of firsts at swimming lessons for our kids.

During his lesson, Conor swam the crawl stroke by himself. His teacher was right there to help him along, but he did it! He got the kicking and arm motions down and beamed with pride when he got to the side of the pool. I almost cried with pride when I saw him swim. Previously, he either kicked or had his arms going ... and always with a teacher holding on to him or with the aid of a floatation device. Yesterday, it was all Conor!!

Not to be outdone by her little brother, when it was Annika's swim lesson, she went off of the high dive for the first time! The sweet part was a little boy in line ahead of her balked when he was on the diving board, but Annika shouted, "It's OK. You can do it!!" as she waited in line. Such a supportive little girl! When it was her turn, she went up the ladder and right off the board like it was nothing. I am hugely impressed with her courage and willingness to try something new like that. What really made me laugh was her "That was so... (glug, glug, glug) .... That was SO AWESOME!" after she surfaced. That girl oozes enthusiasm!