Swimming Lessons

This summer I had a goal: To get Isabelle comfortable floating around in the pool with some sort of floatation device on. I did not want to spend another summer unable to sit by the side of the pool reading a book because she was terrified of the water and needed me to go in. I did not want to be choked all the while I was in the water because she was so afraid of me letting go and drowning her. To me going to the pool is all about getting a little "ME" time while my children play. This is also what I think parks are for but somehow I am involved in her life there too but I guess that is a different story...

So despite this being "the year of Africa" and not wanting to spend money on any non-essentials, I signed her up for lessons at the club I work for. Thursday will be the last of 8 lessons and I can confidently say it was money well spent. She has loved the lessons and been very comfortable in the water since lesson one(so maybe it is her age rather than the lessons but since I paid the money let's pretend it is the lessons). The instructor has been very nice and Isabelle is great at following the instructions. She particularly excels at floating on her back with her leg and arms out, the girl knows how to relax.

Since I am trying to master this new camera before the trip I brought it with to the pool today. I also played with the program it came with a little and did some cropping and other small edits. So much to learn, so little time.









Today after the lessons we hung around. I had bought a swim vest for her for this weekend and she had used it a little in the lake but never really went out deep enough to test it out. So today I put it on her and tortured her by bringing her out deep and letting go. It took some time and a little slower release than I had in mind but eventually she realized she could trust the vest and started swimming around. She still stays quite close to the edge but is making some progress.