Mamas with Cameras 365 Photo Challenge: Week 2

Well, another week of my Mamas with Cameras 2016 photo challenge is complete and I'm really excited about some of my shots! It has been another fun week behind the lens, but also somewhat challenging week due to the vast amount of darkness we seem to have this time of year. Fortunately, we had some breaks in the weather, which gave me a few opportunities to shoot outside without fearing that the camera will get drenched.

In order to keep the kids from getting burned out on being photographed, I am continually looking for new subjects and ways to challenge myself. They're still my favorites to shoot, but I try to limit how much I shoot them to make sure I'm remembering to interact with them and not just capture what they're doing. Oh, that double-edged sword of being a mama with a camera!

Without further ado... week 2's photo gallery:

8/365: Blue Friday Cutie Pies

9/365: Sunrise through the fog

10/365: Annika practicing her whip kick 

11/365: Serene lighting for dinner

12/365: Apple wood pizza oven at Serious Pie

13/365: Trees reflected in a puddle

14/365: Macro water drop suspended from a pine needle

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

Annika's First Diving Class

As I've mentioned before, our kids are basically fish. They absolutely LOVE the water, as do their parents. The kids have been taking swimming lessons practically since birth and continue to grow as swimmers. One of Annika's favorite things to do is jump off of the diving board, which is a treat usually reserved for the last day of a swim lesson session ... basically every 5-6 weeks. Not nearly enough for our girl!

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered that the swimming pool where Annika and Conor take their swim lessons also has a weekly drop-in dive class. Once Annika heard that, she was raring to go! We had a scheduling conflict last weekend, so she couldn't go until yesterday and it is safe to say, that the girl is sold on diving!

The class is taught by a volunteer diving coach and he gives each participant one-on-one instruction. He tells them what to do when they're at the end of the diving board ready to jump in and then gives additional instruction after they've completed their task.

For Annika's first turn, the instructor had her simply jump in feet first, nothing fancy. No problem!

Feet first .... or is she surrendering??

The instructor then had Annika start going in head first and taught her how to bend at the waist, keep her arms straight, and have her hands together above her head.  He also taught her how to move her arms to gain as much momentum as possible before diving into the pool. Again, she was all in!

When the kids had their third go, the instructor stood on the diving board with them and gave more detailed instruction on how to position themselves before and as they enter the water.

Being coached on the diving board

In she goes!

He then went back to the side of the pool to watch how the students were implementing his instruction and then gave further feedback after each child entered the water. What really impressed me is how much Annika paid attention and hung on his every word. She was hungry to eat up all wisdom and suggestions he shared with her.

Ready....

Diving....

Splash!!

For her last dive of the day (it was time for her regular swim class to begin), the coach had Annika try a backward dive. Again, she had no qualms about giving it a try and happily backed her way into the pool. When she got out, the instructor was gushing about how great she did and said the only thing she didn't do that he told her to do was jump before diving... instead, she sort of fell backward from the diving board. Annika told him next time, she'll remember to jump!

First backward dive
(She's actually diving from the diving board, not the starting blocks)

Success!

The coach gave Annika a fist bump and lots of praise for her efforts during the class. She deserved them... she listened, tried hard, and willingly attempted new feats. We are so proud of our girl and look forward to her next diving class! As for Annika, she is practically counting the minutes until next week's class. If things keep going this well, we might register her for the registration-only diving class that takes place just before the drop-in class once the next session of classes begins. Our little fish is a happy girl ... and Conor can hardly wait to be big enough to join his sister in the diving classes!

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

Annika's Big Accomplishment

Before you read any further, go and grab your calendar and a pen. Go on... I'll wait....

Got 'em? Great!! Take your pen and circle yesterday and put a smiley face on the day so you can look back and always remember that yesterday was a great day for Annika. 

"Why?" you might ask. Well, I'll tell you! 

Yesterday was the first day she swam the length of the deep pool during her swim lessons. I was a nervous wreck, but she did GREAT!! She kicked that pool's behind (assuming pools have behinds). She did the crawl stroke from end to end without a single issue. She swam on her back on the return trip, t'boot!

The adorable part of the experience is how excited she was about being in such deep water and wondering how deep it was. The best I could explain was that the water was deeper than two daddies. Everyone we passed for the rest of the day heard how she swam deeper than two daddies. (I'm sure the gals at the fabric store got a good chuckle out of trying to figure out exactly what that meant!)

So, so, so proud of Annika for all of the hard work she has put into learning how to swim. It was days like yesterday that really show us how much she has learned and how far she has progressed as a swimmer.

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!

Our little fish

Yesterday, Annika's swim class spent most of their time together in the deep end of the swimming pool They've visited there before, but never for such an extended amount of time.

As my eyes bounced between the two ends of the pool to watch Conor and Annika's classes, I was astonished by how well Annika is progressing. (Note: Conor did a great job yesterday, too, and even jumped off of the side of the pool to his teacher without hesitation, which was a first for him. I did get a video of him, but was across the pool, so it looks like a spec jumping into the pool. That said, great job, Conor!)

Her class has a fantastic teacher to student ratio, which is reassuring as the kids venture into the deep end of the pool, but knowing my kiddo is in THAT much water is a little bit unnerving for me. I'm never complete at ease when our kids are in the pool; my mama instincts keep me ready to pounce if either of the kids get into trouble.

The two other children in Annika's class opted to wear life jackets the entire time they were in the deep end of the pool; Annika wore hers for about 5 minutes and then decided to go without it. Mr. Brian, one of Annika's teachers, showed her a neat maneuver that scuba diver use to ditch their BCDs to get out of her life jacket: unbuckle it and then let your body sink out of the jacket with your arms up. No muss... no fuss!

Annika's favorite part of swim lessons is jumping off of the diving board. When one of her classmates was apprehensive about taking the plunge, Annika stood next to the diving board cheering her on. "You can do it! I know you can. It's really fun. You can do it!!" (She may have a career as a motivational speaker ... or cheerleader!) Thanks to Annika's enthusiasm and a little more reassurance from the teachers, the little girl did jump and really enjoyed it. After she was in the water, Annika continued her praise. "Yes! I KNEW you could do it. You did great! Wasn't it fun?"

Not only does Annika know how to fearlessly jump from the board, she now is very adept at swimming to the side of the pool and getting herself back on dry land.

Yup, she's our little fish!