Swimming

Here's a picture of a recent snack time at our house.  We built a snow fort and a snow girl on the back deck. 

Last week we had swimming evaluations.  That's right, when it was snowing and well below freezing, the girls went swimming.  Indoors obviously, but still, when you live here, you do begin to do crazy things in the winter.  They both were so excited that they were ready to leave 2 hours before we needed to go.

Cassidy was able to put her face in the water, blow bubbles, float on her stomach and back by herself with the teacher.  She did really well, and I was quite surprised at how much she did on her own.  The teacher was complimentary and said that Cassidy would be in the Red level, not the white, which is their equivalent of beginner.  Yay, Cassidy!  I was nervous about Taylor going and getting the same level because she has been a more hesitant swimmer than Cass.  I asked the teacher about it, and she said that it would be no problem for them to stay together.  Well, Taylor kicked the water's you-know-what, and did everything Cassidy did, and got the same evaluation.  Yay, Taylor!

So today was their first lesson with Ms. Carol.  She's a nice, big, older lady who seemed to have a lot of experience and patience for little monkeys.  The girls were beyond excited and again were ready 2 hours before we needed to be there.  I had to go to the (cold) parents' waiting area, but I had a good view of them swimming.  They were able to swim to their teacher on their tummies, and her goal seemed to be to get them to float rather than to swim entirely under the water.  They used noodles too, for tummy swimming and back swimming, which I had never seen.  They also got to use something that looked like a dumb bell with styrofoam on the ends to help them learn to put their faces in the water while kicking.  Taylor got a little scared at that because she was expected to swim a long way (the width of the pool), and she did cry.  Thankfully the lesson was almost done by that point, and Taylor recovered enough to do the last activity with the other 3 kids.  They got to jump into the water and swim to the teacher and back to the wall by themselves.  Cassidy, insanely eager, jumped in before the teacher was ready, and had to get back out to wait her turn, but she wasn't phased - hey, she got to jump twice instead of just once!

All in all, it was amazing, and I am a very proud mom.  They loved it and can't wait until next Tuesday.  I am happy that in the dead of winter, I don't have to get in with them this way.  We'll probably have to go back to the community pool one of these days, but until it's above 20, I am absolutely refusing to get in the water regardless of whether the pool is inside or out (well, outside all the pools are frozen so that's not really a choice...).  

Maybe I will remember to add pictures next week.  Don't you want to see two frozen little swimmers?  It's kind of funny to see swimming suits and snow boots.

Hawaii, look out!  We'll be ready to snorkel this summer!