Sunday at the Pool

With Annika's new found love of diving, we are now spending an hour and 45 minutes at the local pool each Sunday. She's taking the diving class, drop-in diving instruction, and her regular swimming lesson ... all back to back. I'm tired just thinking about it!

Yesterday, the kids and I headed to the pool in time for Annika's dive class, which meant Conor had an hour and fifteen minutes to sit around and wait for his class. He was an absolute trooper!! He watched his tablet for a bit, but was more interested in watching the kids dive and even took videos of Annika when it was her turn to dive. Talk about a supportive little brother!!

Annika did a great job during her dive classes. She listened attentively and eagerly applied what she was taught to her next dive. She did pencil dives (feet in first), forward dives, and backward dives. Each time, she popped her head out of the water with a huge smile on her face. It was really fun to watch.

Forward dive

Another forward dive

Backward dive

After over an hour of patience, Conor was anxious for his chance to have some fun in the pool and when he had the green light to get in the pool, he eagerly hopped in and got to work on his crawl stroke, "blast offs", and back stroke. His skills are really taking shape and his crawl stroke is really impressive!

 Unfortunately, his penned up energy from watching Annika for so long seemed to get the better of him... he had a marvelous time splashing water when he wasn't supposed to and got pulled out of the pool. (Whoops) My thinking is maybe he and whichever parent is on pool patrol can do a little recreational swimming while Annika is in her dive class... it'll help him work off some energy before his class begins. Plus, it's fun to go swimming!! :)

Conor listening to his teacher

Conor getting his blast off arms right

Conor practicing his blast offs

Our little swimmers

Yesterday, the current session for Annika and Conor's swim classes came to an end. The last class of each session typically includes a skills review/evaluation and then having some fun.

Conor's class got to ride in the pool's row boat so they could (a) have fun in a boat and (b) see how the skills they've been learning can have a practical application... a boat sinks = you swim, or at least float on your back. After the instructors pulled the boat around the shallow end of the pool for a bit, they slowly allowed it to take on water and sink. The kids were in life jackets and (for the most part) giggled with glee as their feet, legs, and tummies got wet. One little guy wasn't impressed with the experience, but everyone else (including Conor) had a marvelous time.

After their skills evaluation and boat excursion, Conor's class was given the opportunity to jump off of the diving board for the first time. Conor LOVED it and showed nothing but bravery and excitement the entire time.

Annika showed amazing growth in her swimming during this class session. Her crawl stroke and side breathing are really improving ... as is her ability/willingness to pay attention to the instructor instead of simply having fun and splashing in the water.

After her class' skill evaluation, her instructor started teaching the kids the very first steps of learning how to dive. He taught them how to kneel on the side of the pool and lean in head first. Annika didn't realize she was actually learning to dive until I told her after the class, which I found pretty entertaining. Her big takeaway from the deep end experience was they got to go to the bottom of the deep end twice. Unfortunately, it left her ears feeling a bit sore thanks to the pressure. I showed her how scuba divers clear their ears and that seemed to help a bit.

All-in-all, the kids had another beneficial and fun-filled swim session and we are so grateful for all that they've learned. I can't think of another sport lesson that is so important... lifesaving skills top just about everything else in terms of importance!

Happy swimming, our little fishies!

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!