My little pikes

So as I mentioned in my vacation posts, the girls had only had three swim lessons prior to our trip to Michigan. During our second swim session at the hotel pool, Allie and Em began to understand the whole swimming thing a bit better. For our third and final session, I opted to lounge in a chair next to the pool and photograph the event while Rich assisted in the pool. I was wearing my bathing suit in case I needed to jump in though.



There were some signs of bravery from Anna. She ventured down to the bottom step and tested her floating while grasping the railing.

At one point, Em, who had been swimming with Rich, burst out crying. When I asked Rich about the tears, he responded with, "She wants to go under water."

"Well, dunk her under the water!"

(We made sure to warn her about holding her breath.) She loved it! I didn't notice this until later but Rich was holding his breath while he dunked her.

Allie

"Did you just take a picture of me?" No! I was taking a picture of that chair over there.

GigglEmily

And then Anna succumbed to peer pressure and "swam" without holding onto Rich. I was so proud of her.

She was mainly treading water but still!

When we announced to the girls that swim time was almost over, they were not happy. Anna told me that she needed to do some more things before we could leave. As she was going back into the pool, she said, "Take pictures of me doing things." Look at that face!



The girls completed their final swim class for Summer Session I when we arrived home from Michigan. During their third swim lesson, the instructor had informed us that we should enroll all of the girls in the same Pike I class if we were going to have them take lessons during Summer Session II. There was a Pike II class during the same time as the girls' lesson and as I watched that class, I realized that there wasn't much difference in swimming ability. For Pike II, kids are just more comfortable in the water.

So before the girls' final swim class, I told their instructor to not be fooled if they said that they couldn't do something. Within five minutes, she announced, "Wow! Did you all go away to swim camp?" After class, we were told that Allie and Em were ready to move up to Pike II but
Anna, who had majorly improved, should stay in Pike I.

We did not enroll the girls in Summer Session II because of our social schedule for the remainder of the summer but we are thinking of trying another place in the fall that has been recommended to us by a few friends. What I have learned is that kids really need to feel comfortable in the water. If you have a pool or have access to a pool, there is a lot that you can do as a parent (if you are a good swimmer) without paying for lessons. (But lessons are still important.)