Swim Lessons!

Both kids started swim lessons on Monday, and are doing a great job so far! 

I signed them both up for a 2 week crash course, so they have lessons every day for 30 minutes after naptime. (Well, Monday-Thursday this week and Tuesday-Friday next week.) I was super happy that I was able to get their lessons in the same time slot, but man is it stressful trying to watch both kids at once, on opposite ends of the pool! :)

Abby

This was Abby's first time taking lessons, so I wasn't sure how she'd react. She always responds well to bribes (don't judge!), so I bought her some Hello Kitty goggles.  She seemed pretty excited about them but then when we got there, her teacher handed her some SwimKids goggles and she was all set. Typical.

 She had two other boys in her lesson on Monday, but I learned that every other day she will actually be the only one in the class. Holla for private lessons every other day (without the cost)! Her instructor's name is Miss Kendall and Abby said right away "My Mommy has a kindle!" :)

 She did great with the kickboard, floating on her back like a starfish, playing with the noodle, and blowing bubbles the first day.

 But of course, once she learned how to blow bubbles, that led to getting a big mouthful of water and then spitting it out. Over and over.

 Pretty pleased with herself, but knows she's about to get yelled at by Mommy! She also got a kick out of standing on the "floating" platform each time while she waited her turn.

 There were lots of fun jumps into the pool. My girl is a fish!

Nate

Nate on the other hand, took a little bit longer to warm up to his teacher. It's probably because he was the only student on Monday (again, he will have a private lesson every other day; we really lucked out)! His instructor's name is Miss Jennifer. Other days he'll have 2-3 other kids in class with him. He took swim lessons last summer, but in my opinion, didn't learn a whole lot. I chose this newer program because it's more intense and that's what I thought the kids needed.

Thankfully, about 10 minutes into the lesson, I saw this beautiful smile:

 And then he was off to races! He picked up right where he left off last summer....

....and by the end of the lesson he was already swimming by himself for about 5 feet! Now, he still has a ways to go on getting the breathing-while-swimming technique! But for now, he's really good at holding his breath and concentrating on the technique of kicking & which stroke to do. And he can float on his back really well, which is already better than Greg can do, ha! :)

We are currently on Day 3 of 8 and it's going really well. Let's hope this continues all the way till the end, and the kids take their newfound swimming skills straight to the Rec Center pool. Nate's last day of school is Friday, and Abby's is next Friday, so pretty soon we will be poolin' it a lot!