Swimming Lessons...from July

I had planned to post this in July, but I only got it as far as a draft without captions, so...here we are in August.  The next two posts will be from July as well.

This year, I wanted Jonathan to be in swimming lessons to continue with the progress he had made last year, and since it took so many summers for Jonathan to truly love his lessons, I wanted to get Grace started, too.  I knew this would be a summer of breaking in for her, not a summer of actually learning to swim.  I was so happy to find out that their lessons could be scheduled at the same time, AND there was a Mommy & Me class that Benjamin and I could attend while the two older kids were in their lessons.  I figured it would be easier (and cooler) to be in the water with Benjamin than to try to fight him and keep him out of the water for 30-45 min./day.

Here are some pictures from the first day...and that's all I have, because Jeff could only drop in on the first day of lessons.  Benjamin loved his swimming lessons, especially the part with the songs.  He was also a champ at blowing bubbles, but not so great at kicking.

That's Jonathan underwater kicking.  He LOVED swimming lessons.  He told me that he wished he could have swimming lessons all day, every day.  I predict that he'll be an independent swimmer next summer.  I was really proud of him.

More adorableness from Benjamin.  He wanted to nap on the kickboards each time we tried them...until he realized it was really fun to bat them across the water and then get me to carry him over and fetch them.

There are not any pictures of Grace in her lessons.  Partly this is because she was stubborn and not a very good participant, and partially because her teachers were teenagers who are inexperienced with 3-4 year-olds.  I had forgotten about this stage, but it was true with Jonathan, too:  I don't usually ask my kids whether they want to do something, at least when they are little.  I tell them what I want them to do, and I expect for them to do it.  So, when someone asks whether they want to do something, they answer honestly.  It works well at our house, but not well at swimming lessons.  For example, Grace's teacher would say, "Grace, do you want to get in and kick now?"  Of course, Grace would answer enthusiastically with a "NO!"  (Which was honest, but the teacher was expecting her to get in, not to answer.)  After I gave her teachers a couple of, um, motivational pep talks, they got her into the water and her swimming lesson experience got much better.

I love these sweet, crazy, unpredictable kids.