a boy. his sister.: Livin' like the fish

Ah, the swim lessons. I did not overly enjoy swimming lessons as a kid, but I am glad that I do know how to swim. I think everyone needs to know how to swim. I LOVE LOVE LOVE going to the pool in the summer and I want to the kids to love it too, so, yes, swim lessons are a must. However, I totally remember the drama around Brett's swimming lessons last year. I tried to get him into the class where I wanted him to be, but it filled up really fast, so he took private lessons with the swim coach at the pool. I have no doubt that she is probably really good at teaching older kids the strokes and how to perfect them. I don't think she really had a clue where to start with a 4 year old who had no swimming experience. So, this year I was on it like white on rice... I got both kids in the same beginning swimming class through Raleigh Parks & Rec. I still had pretty low expectations for what they were going to accomplish with a group of beginning swimmers. I figured the first class would be 40 minutes of "blow out the candle" to teach them how to blow bubbles in the water. They did so much more than that! The kids were divided up and the teachers were great. Kate's teacher had them jumping in and going partly underwater by the end of the class. Both kids were all smiles at the end of class and excited about their next class tomorrow! Yay!! I'm so relieved that they are enjoying it and learning!

At the end of class we ran into some friends from school, so we set up a pool play date with them for later this afternoon. It gave us just enough time to eat lunch (at McDonald's - kids' choice), take my mom to get her car (she came with us so that she knows where to take the kids tomorrow), and go take Brett to try on his school uniform. Yes... kindergarten, school uniform... still can't believe he's going to Kindergarten. I know, I think I've said it every single post for like a month now, and I'll probably keep saying it, so get used to it :-P Anyway, he was really excited about trying on his "big kid school clothes" and now I feel a little more prepared for the Uniform Swap tomorrow night. It's like a consignment sale, but it's at the school and it's all uniforms - a very cool concept. They've also added Lands End for uniforms for next year, which I'm super-excited about. I like the quality of Lands End and I like that they run deals all the time. So, I'm ready to stock up on navy shorts and navy pants and a year's worth of polos... oh, and some PE uniforms too :)

Then we headed to the pool and met up with our friends, the Moffett's. They are super sweet and so much fun to hang out with. Emma and Brett were in the 2 year old and 3 year old classes together, and they were across the hall from each other this year. I would love it if they're in Kindergarten together next year, but we'll have to wait and see! The kids had a great time playing in the pool, again! They were all sad when we said it was time to leave. I really think our kids would've been perfectly happy playing in their swimsuits all day today :) Maybe tomorrow kids - we'll see!

Update: Swim Lessons, Week 2
Lessons are still going well... both kids will go under water, not willingly, but they will do it, and they don't pitch a big fit about it. We've worked on some of our swim lessons skills at our own pool and they're doing pretty well - jumping off the edge and going under with help, pushing off from the edge, blowing bubbles with their whole face in the water, kicking with a kick board or noodle, etc. Here are some pictures from today's lesson (Wednesday, June 15)