Adventures in Swimming

The summer is flying by and I am getting behind on my blogging!  That's okay though because we are busy having lots of fun!  The week of June 14-18 we had Vacation Bible School every night from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, and during the day from 10:30am to 11:15am Maddy and Katy took swim lessons from Mr. Ed at Adventure Swim School.  He uses the fast and fun swim system to teach kids how to swim.  Lily took from him last summer and took off swimming afterwards, and we were hoping for Maddy and Katy to do the same.  I brought my camera on the 4th day and took lots of pictures!

Here are Maddy and Katy stretching.

Mr. Ed loved Katy!  She was the youngest in the class.  He helped build her confidence in the water.  Here she is using a swim board.

Taking a rest...

Before the week started, Maddy didn't even like to get her face wet at all.  She has come a long way!

Here they are getting ready to go under and hold their breath for 5 seconds:

Maddy jumping again!

Katy's turn to jump!

Mr. Ed is so encouraging to the kids, yet he demands first request obedience.  Katy works best under this type of discipline, so she did really well and had lots of fun too!

She loved jumping in! 

The kids threw their board to Mr. Ed...

and then jumped in!

Mr. Ed taught the kids how to backfloat.

And then showed them how to "swim" back to the wall by putting their face under and using their arms!

Maddy's turn to backfloat!  Or "go to sleep in the water" as Parker called it!  He was their best cheerleader!

Maddy watching and waiting patiently for her turn.

Maddy loved, loved swim lessons and begged to go back everyday.  She was so proud of herself!

Then it was time for the DIVING BOARD! 

Our Katybug looks so little standing there!

Yay Katybug!!!  Mr. Ed always went underwater with the kids and encouraged them to open their eyes.  I loved hearing him say, "Did you see me?  I saw you!  You look so cute underwater!"

Maddy's turn to be a Diving Diva! 

Maddy swam over to the side by herself after her big jump!

Every day the kids would play racing games for a reward.  3 kids would get on a swim mat and race around the pool!

Mr. Ed always ended his lessons with a huddle. 

What a great week!  And I am happy to say that both girls are swimming now after their week of lessons!  Katy still wears a life vest when she gets tired since she can't touch the bottom of the pool, but she is doing really well for just being 3 years old!  I am so proud of them and thankful for Mr. Ed and his swimming instructions!  We are having lots of fun at our neighborhood pool this summer swimming the day away!

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8

Sliding Into Fun

On Saturday, August 22nd, we went to the Parker Family Reunion. They had a pool with a sliding board, and of course Katy was the first to go down! Uncle Tony was right there ready to help, but Katy wanted to do it all by herself! Can you tell Jonathan is so proud of his Katybugs? I love her free spirit and her fearlessness!

But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 1Samuel12:24

My Little Fish

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been spending lots of time at our neighborhood pool. It took me awhile to get up the courage to take my four little ones to the "big" pool by myself, but I'm so glad I did because it has become one of our favorite things to do together! The kids are begging to go swim "down the street" every day! Katy especially is enjoying the pool and since it's been awhile since I have done a post just focusing on my Katybugs, I thought I would share how much she loves the water! Katy has become a little fish. She has absolutely no fear of the water and after several attempts to get her to wear swimmies on her arms (with no success!), I got her a Speedo life vest in her favorite color blue. She is so very proud of it!I love it because it keeps her arms free to practice swimming and it's just enough to keep her above water so she really has to work! She loves to run and jump in and has taught herself to "back float." She also loves to throw toys in and jump in after them. It's hard to believe she just turned 2 1/2! I love watching my little fish in the water and can't wait to get her into swim lessons this winter when she turns 3!

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2

Our Little Mermaid

Lily took her first set of swim lessons last week (May 25-29). I took the advice of Lily's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bounds, and enrolled Lily in the Super Kids Beginners class at Adventure Swim. The lessons are taught by Mr. Ed at his home and he uses the Fast and Fun Swim System to teach kids to swim. Lily went five days in a row from 10:30-11:15 and she loved it! Before the 25th she really hadn't been under water much, and by Friday she was jumping off the diving board! We were thrilled with all she learned and would highly recommend Adventure Swim! Here is Lily on her last day in her cute hot pink swim cap! Mr. Ed had her jumping in off the side and using a kick board to swim to the other side

Lily was taught how to hold her breath under water for 5-10 secondsand also the skills to do a back float

At the end of her fourth day of lessons, Mr. Ed had the kids jump off of the diving board! Here is Lily showing Mr. Ed that she is going to "climb" with her arms to come to the top of the water: She was so brave jumping off the diving board into the 10' water!

At the end of class each day Mr. Ed had the kids race on the mats in the water. This was one of Lily's favorite parts of the class: We are so proud of you Lily and can't wait to see you swim all summer!

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22