Water Babies!

So taking the kids to swimming lessons has been Johnny's thing.  Mostly because when we started doing it last year I had just had a baby and it was a nice break for me.  This year, I schemed and planned and had flashbacks to college class scheduling as I stayed up until midnight to register the kids for swim classes with the rec center.  Did I need to stay up?  No, I was actually not feeling well and did it since I was up anyway, but they do fill up fast.  I scheduled all three to have back-to-back classes in the evenings so Johnny could take them.  And since we have pool passes this year, they could spend the waiting time playing in the other pools.  The last day of this session Johnny was home, so we all went a little early and played and enjoyed the sunshine and ridiculous heat.  

I tried to get a picture of Johnny handling all three kids in the kiddy pool, but by the time I got back with my phone Joy had swum away and the sun was too bright to cooperate with me.  So this crappy shot is all you get. 

This is the kiddy pool, it's only 2 1/2 feet deep and it's Joy's favorite place to play because she can practice swimming and always be able to touch the bottom. 

 My angle was all off to get any pictures of The Captain swimming, sorry.  There's only so much I can do on a phone, staring into the almost setting sun.

But here's Joy in swim class.  She was all alone that day, so she got devoted one-on-one attention from her teacher. 

swimming with the noodle

backfloat practice.  She did it all my herself without a spot.

 And here's Miss Lee with Daddy in her class.  They share a pool with Joy's Preschool class, so you can see Joy backfloating in this picture.

Snuggling with Daddy.  She did this a lot on tired days.

And here she is floating on a lilypad at the end of class while everyone sings her goodbye.

 The kids are getting super good at swimming.  Johnny figures they will both probably be actually swimming before our next round of classes in the first of July.  The Captain especially has had a huge turn around.  Last year, he wouldn't put his head underwater and hated swimming lessons.  This year, he is holding his head under spouts at the splash park, running to get dumped on by the giant bucket at the pool and so excited for swim class.  He is even interested in diving lessons.  I'm not sure what prompted this turn around, but I'm so grateful.  Miss Joy, luckily has not had a turn around since she's always loved water.  And Miss Lee is like a little fish.  She loves splashing and kicking.  She's not a fan of backfloating, or putting her head in, but she will put her mouth under water and doesn't get too mad at Johnny when he dunks her.  In fact, before classes started, Lee mostly associated Daddy with bedtime, and thus crying.  Now, she associates him with swimming, and thus fun.  He enjoys this change.