Some concepts are almost impossible to explain to a kid, you just have to let them learn on their own. Unfortunately, when it comes to swimming in their grandparents pool in late November it requires Mommy to participate too. A few days prior we had been visiting Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ken and enjoyed an afternoon swim in their heated pool. It was fun and while you stayed in the water quite enjoyable.

When we got to Miami, the girls asked to swim in their Grandparents’ pool. We explained that it was not a heated pool and it was a little cold to swim in, but the girls kept asking. I decided that they only way to end the requests was to grant it. By the time we got in the pool it was completely dark and cool. When it was time to put toes in the water Julia was all for it and Emily was a bit skittish. We all went out to get wet and wet we were going to get, so I picked Emily up and took her into the water. We played a bunch of games and when it was all over both girls were jumping into the pool from the side over and over again. I did get used to the water eventually. When we got out I checked out the water temperature and found out it had been a toasty 69 degrees.

Maybe next year when they ask they will be able to swim on their own and we can just watch. Somehow, I bet they won’t let me get away with that. I guess it will be Daddy’s turn.

We all enjoyed the waterslide at the pool. Emily started off sliding with a parent. Then one trip down, Robby came alone, and Emily then followed. She loved sliding! She would head right out of the pool to do it again. The other people and kids were really good to wait for her to take her time. She preferred a parent to “catch” her at the bottom, but it was just to pull her out of the way before the next person came down the slide. She wanted to hit the water on her own.

Julia watched the people coming off the slide and decided that she wanted to try. She ran off to the slide and started to climb the stairs. I took her to the top and let her look down and she would just point at the slide. I had her ride down on my lap and when we got to the bottom she got plenty wet. Her response to the ride was to point at the slide to do it again. When given the opportunity, she would walk over to the slide and go up the stairs. She loved the ride.

We tried to swim early or late in the afternoon when both the sun was less harsh and when there were less people in the pool. This worked pretty well for us. Ultimately, we would leave the pool when they got too tired or cold. I think the only thing we wished for on our little trip was one more day at the pool.

We spent the long weekend away on a mini-vacation. We joked that we ran away to play as a family. Robby has been putting in a lot of hours at work and he hasn’t gotten much of a chance to play with the girls lately. He has also missed out on all of the swimming the girls have done so far this year. So, we found a hotel with a fun pool and stayed the weekend.

I thought the photo of Emily was pretty cute with her next to the depth marker of 3. She is more than happy to inform people that she is three years old when asked.

Julia loved floating around in the pool on her own with her floaties. She still isn’t using words, so she invented a sign for swimming. It consists of bending her arm away from her body and pointing at the spot where her floaties go. She has been so fearless in the pool, we felt that she would have more fun, and we would worry less about her with them on. She still loves to put her face in the water and floating on her belly. She discovered that she could lay her head back into the water. After she got used to it, she would float on her back in the pool and just relax.

Julia loves being in the pool and water. She expresses such excitement when she knows she is going to play. Several times on the trip she would ask directly to go swimming in the pool by saying ‘wa’ and pointing at the pool. She would also find her swim diaper and take it to everyone trying to get someone to take her out. We worked hard to keep the swim diapers hidden because she was so insistent.

Julia enjoyed being held in the pool. She liked playing on the steps of the pool. She tolerated floating on her own in the baby float. She disliked holding on to the noodle and intertube. When she started to walk off the steps and enjoying the dunking she got, we put Emily’s floaties on her. With floaties she just bobbed around kicking enough to move a little. Julia is lacking fear of the water. It might still come, but she doesn’t have it yet. Julia puts her face into the water willingly and when her head goes under water she does a pretty good job of not swallowing water.

One of my favorite things she did around the pool was to wipe her face on the towel. She listened and watched our instruction to Emily about wiping your face to get sunscreen or water out of her eyes. On her own she started to wipe little spots on her face with the towel and then heading back to get more of the water. She just wants to be like her big sister. This is probably why she has been so quick to try so many things in the pool.

With summer come the end of all our normal weekly activities. Last week was the end of three of these activities. Our swim class, Thursday school, and Bible Study Fellowship. We have a few more weeks of Little Gym before the spring classes end.

The swim class was only eight weeks long, but it was a fun eight weeks. We splashed, swam, and bobbed our way through them. I was so proud of Emily and her interest in swimming. She enjoyed her teacher, liked to preform for her, and was getting a sense of being in the water under her own steam. Julia still wasn’t “fearful” of the water so it was fun to do things without her clinging to me. She didn’t like to float on her back, but enjoyed most of the other activities. She would “swim” between the teacher and her Mama, practice her crab walk along the pool edge, swim to a ball she would throw out in the water, and sing motion songs with the class. We are planning on both girls to take the fall version of the class again.

Thursday School was both for Emily and Julia. The class gave Emily the opportunity to learn to play with others along with learning life lessons. It also gave Julia some special Mama time. We would go to Mother Goose together, shop, eat breakfast, play, and see our friend Maeve.

Bible Study Fellowship was an opportunity for all of us to have some constructive time of learning. Mama enjoyed her study of scripture, Emily loved spending the morning with her class and striving to be the class leader, and Julia played her morning away with other toddlers and snacks. Out of all our activities this one was the most regimented. I could see such growth in Emily with her group participation and living up to high expectations. What a joy! After class we would walk a special sidewalk out to our car. Emily kept wanting to walk further on the sidewalk, so I started parking at the end of the sidewalk so that she could enjoy walking the whole way.

There are so many fun activities to fill our summer with, but this week will feel a little empty without the activities that have come to define our week. Emily typically asks each day where we are going or what we are doing. We will just have to enjoy each day and what fun activity comes with each one.

The girls have been taking swim lessons. Emily is in her own level I class and Julia and I are taking a “Mommy and Tot” class together. I was fortunate and they are teaching the two classes at the same time so we all can participate.

Emily has been doing really well. Previous to this class she would swim with water wings, so this class has been a lot of getting used to how her body feels in the water without a flotation device. She has been very willing to try new things. With the help of her teacher and a buoy she swam the length of the pool and back, she has swum under the lane divider, she will bob her face in and out of the water, and she is having a lot of fun. I asked Emily what her favorite thing to do in the pool is and she said to hold the side of the pool with her hands and feet.

Once Julia gets used to the temperature of the water she is having a good time with Mommy. We sing songs, bob in and out of the water, practice holding to the edge of the pool, throw and swim to balls, put our face into the water, and get dunked once each lesson. She hasn’t gotten fearful of the water yet and is enjoying all the water. One of her favorite things to do is to look for Emily in the next lane. This past week she actually saw Emily kicking her feet while swimming and Julia imitated the kick motion. Her other favorite thing to do in the pool is to throw and fetch a ball.

We are hoping to have a lot of opportunities to practice what we are learning this summer in the pool!