Swim Lessons

Last year the kids took lessons from a young woman in our stake and had a good experience. This year we went back. Dyllan and Ephram took lessons together, but Braedi and Corbin were on their own (private lessons). They all worked on swim strokes, diving, jumping off the edge, floating, treading water, and other stuff. I was amazed at how much they grew and how brave they were when trying new stuff. The hi-lite for me was when I saw Braedi dive off the big rock.

Ephram was funny. He refused to put his face in the water. His crawl was more like a doggy paddle.

And his back stroke was just moving his hands around.
He grew in confidence, but still has a way to go. The poor skinny kid has no fat to warm him up. Every time he came in the house after lessons he would sit and shiver for 10-15 minutes.
Dyllan's backstroke was a lot like Ephram's--they both need to work on "big arms"
She decided to try and jump off the big rock. She climbed up and got ready to jump several times.
This is her climbing down. She just couldn't get up enough courage. I can't blame her. It would have scared me, too. Besides this situation, Dyllan was always willing and eager to do what Bria asked her to do. She loved learning new skills.
Everyday before swim lessons, Corbin would say that he didn't want to go. He was afraid of what Bria would make him do. But everyday after swim lessons, he would be beaming and say how how much he loved swim lessons. He was always so proud of the things that he accomplished.
He learned some new swim strokes and had to swim laps across the pool. He also learned how to tread water and how to dive.
Corbin wanted to see if he was braver than Dyllan and tried to jump off the big rock. First it was with a noodle and then without props.

Braedi went in with the most confidence and probably learned the most. She enjoyed diving off the side and diving for rings.

Like Ephram (and all the other kids) she had a hard time putting her face in the water. The whole breathing thing threw her off. She had to practice that skill a lot
You may wonder what we did while we waited--we were there for an hour and a half. When it wasn't their turn, they worked on math. Swim lessons took up a big chunk of our day (swim time plus a half hour driving each way) and bringing school stuff helped. Bria also had legos to play with and cartoons to watch. Faythe would watch or play or color or wander around the house.
It was a fun 4 weeks. Now we just need to get to the pool more often so they can practice.