Swim Lessons 2008

It was another great--and very HOT--year of swim lessons for these girls! Kendyll and Carlie both had great classes of kids (almost all girls!), and had alot of fun learning new things. We absolutely love Mrs. Linda and are so thankful that she is so gifted at teaching our kids swimming skills! Every time we see her at church, the girls act like they've seen a movie star and can't wait to say hi to her. It's great to know their teacher so well, and to watch them learn so much!

CARLIE'S LESSONS:

This year was Carlie's first swim lesson experience, and I wasn't sure what to expect. She likes the water, but did not like doing it without floaties or being held. So, the first few days were lots of tears, a few screaming fits, but still lots of learning! It was funny that she would cry and cry but would still do everything that Mrs. Linda asked her to. So, I was VERY proud of what she was doing by the end of the first week. I bribed her with getting to go pick out her own My Little Pony if she did well the first week. And, I've never seen her so excited about a $5 pony!! It was worth every penny!!

The weekend between her two weeks of lessons was spent swimming and practicing in the pool, and all of a sudden it all "clicked" for her. The second week with Mrs. Linda, she learned to really swim without help, and even jumped off the diving board a few times with NO tears! YEAH Carlie!

Two of my favorite things that she does in the pool is her huge chipmunk cheeks when she holds her breath and her fast-moving kicker legs. She looks like a little hamster in a wheel with her legs moving so fast...and it makes her cute little bottom stick out of the water. SO CUTE.

Another funny thing about Carlie's swimming is that she gets very, very, very bloated. She obviously swallows a lot of air when she takes her huge chipmunk-cheek breaths. So, she will have gas for hours after swimming and she looks like she swallowed a basketball. It's absolutely hilarious. :)

This year was a bit CRAZY for swim lesson times, because of our VBS decorating schedule that completely overlapped. So, I did not get to be there much at all to watch. It made me sad to miss so many days, but I think Gammy and Aunt Cailee had it all under control. And, Carlie loved having them there to watch her. Thank you both!!

KENDYLL'S LESSONS:

Wow. Kendyll totally surprised me this year in lessons. I knew her fear of the water was much better, but I had no idea she would come so far in what she learned and how much she loved it! She did not care at all if I was there or not, and jumped right into learning all that she could about her strokes and breathing. She became a MUCH stronger swimmer this year, and it is so nice to sit back and watch her enjoy swimming so much. Her favorite new thing was learning the backfloat. She said it was so relaxing. :)And, here's the new freestroke she learned (is that what it's called?):In fact, Mark's now decided that swim team could be in Kendyll's future with her long torso and legs. We'll see! I would have never thought that two years ago when she began lessons and wouldn't even sit in the water with Mrs. Linda! That woman is a miracle worker!! :)

I can't say that I LOVE swim lessons while we're in the middle of them. They're hot & sweaty for the "spectators", they cause LOTS of extra laundry piles, and they are a scheduling pain. BUT...they are soooo worth it. And, it's so neat to watch your children learn so much in such a short time! They were both so proud of themselves and really saw tangible results from their efforts, which is always a great lesson to learn! They also have so much fun with their friends...and, for the best perk of all, they take really good naps for those two weeks too! :) Now, we've been having fun in the pool ever since, and I can actually take all three of them together without having to worry about the oldest two. It's great!