Swimming, Swimming, Swimming

The older three children were enrolled in three sessions of swimming this summer. A session was two weeks long and they went four days a week. Or was one of the sessions three weeks long? It's a blur in my mind even though I took them to a lot of their classes because Kara went on bed rest during the last swim session. The trio did well at lessons, but they weren't little fish at the end of the last session. Bentley could swim a little. Viva had started swimming on her own. Jake was not ready to be on his own in the water.

I wanted them to be little fish because they are going to Mexico next month with their father and Grandpa Tim & Grandma Karen. They will be staying once again in a fancy resort that has lots and lots of pools. It'd be good if they could swim. So after swim lessons ended, I signed opa and I up at the Dimond Athletic Club with a family membership so we could take the kids swimming there. Opa has taken them over there at least twice a week, usually three times a week, for the past month. I have gone with them a lot of them time, but Opa has been there every time. Opa was on the swim team in high school.

The children are doing fantastic. As I mentioned earlier Bentley could swim by the end of swim lessons, but he hadn't learned how to take a breath while swimming. Now he can swim longer distances because he can take a breath while continuing to swim. He loves the pool. Bentley is a good glider, too.

Viva is our little dolphin. She loves to dive under water and retrieve objects from the pool bottom. She's very good at it. She taught Bentley how to maneuver downward to the bottom. She swims better now, but she has to be the most languid swimmer I have ever seen. Mark says she can swim fast if she's competing with her brother, but when I've worked with her she's sloooooooooooow. I kept watching for her to sink between strokes, but she didn't. The goal is to be able to stay afloat on your own and she does that.

Jake also swims now, but he's much more timid than his twin. He's gained a lot of confidence in the water the past couple of weeks, but he still likes us to be right by his side. He can swim across the pool (it's a very small pool!), but he doesn’t like to. He's not as adventurous in the water as his siblings, but he likes to dive. He'll be a great swimmer once he gets more experience.

Lincoln has only gone to the pool with us once. He loved it, but it was hard to work with the older children while holding him, so we didn’t take him again. In the future he needs to come, too, so that he feels comfortable in the water and is ready to swim without needing four or five sessions of swim lessons first. Now that the older children swim we'll spend time at pools and Lincoln will have the opportunity to be there, too. Having older siblings opens doors for younger siblings.

We had a month long membership at the club which expired last Friday. We'll be signing up again on Wednesday and going as often as possible before the children leave to Mexico. Swimming is an important skill and I'm glad the trio are learning how. Swim little fish, swim.