Hello my little fishies...

One of my goals for the summer was to help my kids improve their swimming skills.  I looked into putting my kids into swim team but turns out they did not know how to "swim". 

They didn't know a single actual stroke. 

Lorien and Wyatt were pretty good at flailing their arms and legs to get around the pool.  But there isn't a swim stroke called "flail".  Clare wouldn't even put her shoulders under water and cried if she was splashed in the face. 

No, swim team was out.  

So I hired a local life guard to come to our pool every morning and teach the kids to swim. 

Katrina was a life-long swim teamer and had been a life guard at a community pool for a couple of years.  She was kind and fun.  The kids loved her.

Lorien and Wyatt learned how to free style swim, Clare learned how do to the "arrow" and Adell learned how to "glub".  All of the kids gained some valuable confidence. 

It was just what they needed.  Maybe they will be able to do swim team next summer.

Maybe...

Lorien

Wyatt

Clare

If you were wondering, "glubbing" is what Adell calls going all the way under the water.

We had swim lessons first thing in the morning before anyone else showed up at the pool.  Some mornings were pretty cold.  Poor Katrina had to stay in the pool for an hour while my kids rotated through their lessons.  One day Clare and Adell were done with lessons but didn't want to go up to the house.  So they stayed on the side of the pool, wearing their coats and shivering.  Adell wrapped her arm around Clare and said "Don't worry Clare, I'll warm you up."  It was so sweet.

 

 

Colter and I sat on the pool chairs, kept time for each lesson and cheered our swimmers on.