Thinking back on swimming lessons

Back when it was summer.  When our lazy days were spent lallygagging from one activity to the next, Andrew and Sylvia took swimming lessons at the Monona pool.  Each morning at 10am, we drove over to Jessica, Eli, and Celia’s house and then walked together to the pool.  Eli and Andrew had class in the morning, and the girls had class a couple afternoons a week.  On the last day of class, I brought my camera to document some of the fun.

Here are our two five-year-old boys about to head to class.  They’re both so cute it makes my teeth hurt.

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Guys being goofy in a less-well-lit part of the living room.

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Since it was the last day of the session, the teachers got out all the noodles and toys, and the whole crew would jump in together to clean it up.

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My Andrew is third from the right.

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Here’s where Jessica and I could be found five mornings a week.  We often got a baby sitter for the girls so we could enjoy 40 minutes of leisurely pool-side chatting.  Ahhh  Next summer the girls will get to take their lessons at the same time as the boys!

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Andrew’s scooping up toys.

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Eli is a ring-retriever extraordinaire.

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I love how much these kids love being in the water!

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As of this summer, Andrew’s dunking and swimming under water.  For a kid who spent the first four years of his life strenuously avoiding getting his ears/face/hair wet under any circumstances, this was a rather titanic shift!  He loves it now!

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There’s Eli swimming about.  He’s getting to be such a great swimmer!

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Andrew jumped off the diving board this last session.  He told me how he was pretty nervous the first time, but then he just did it.  And now, although there was a little hesitation, he seems to love it!

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On the last day of class, they got the water slide going, and kids got the opportunity to slide down.  It was so cute to see the crowd of life guards at the bottom waiting to catch “their kids.”  Andrew went down twice!

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Here he is with his end-of-session certificate.  In a way, I can’t wait for next year when we can enjoy these hot pool days again!

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3 Replies to “Thinking back on swimming lessons”

  1. I have fond memories of swimming lessons at the DHS pool. I’m glad Andrew had fun at his lessons. And holy cow, Eli looks so grown up in these pictures! I only know him through your pictures, but all of a sudden he seems like a little man. It makes me feel older than I am, lol.

  2. That pool!  I was a lifeguard there.  I rescued a little kid from that very water at the base of the slide.  I wore a dolphin sticker on my back every day in hopes of getting a tan with the shape of a white dolphin…(it didn’t work…I wore too much sunscreen:)
    I love to see Andrew being a good swimmer.  They have a diving team there, I hope Andrew can be part of swim team and diving.  I think of diving as one of the least dangerous ways to come close to flying (the others being things like jumping off of buildings…).  The grace, the elegance, the incredible muscles of those divers!  I loved lifeguarding when there was diving practice…
     

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