lil swimmers

a few months ago we purchased a Groupon for one session of swim lessons at AquaTots. i believe we paid about $35 for 4 lessons, whereas regular lessons are $68. so we got a pretty good deal. the best part of the deal was that lily and topher were able to be in the same class, which means we were there for a half hour once a week. and the bestest bestest part of the deal is that the kids swam a lot this summer so they are very comfortable in water so i did NOT have to go in the pool with them. big thumbs up for having the kids one year apart, and for having kids who have a minimal amount of fear in their heads. this can be a good and a bad thing (concept of fear) but this time around, it was a good thing.

AquaTots was a great place to have our lessons. especially since we had them in the midst of the holiday season. we started in November and just finished our fourth lesson last week. if you need to cancel your lesson, you can, up to an hour before hand. and then you can reschedule. very easy. very nice. and the set-up is cute, cause they have a play area for kids who are waiting, and the whole wall is glass so that parents can have an unobstructed view of their kids. i was afraid for the first lesson that maybe the kids would be distracted with me sitting there staring at them, or that they would cry cause i wasn't with them. nope. they could care less about me. in this case- not a bad thing at all!

the kids just got more comfortable being in the pool, and practiced being on their backs, putting their faces in the water, and getting in and out of the pool safely. they even retrieved rings at the bottom of the pool, assisted by their teacher. it was so great to see them do new things! in only got to go to 3 of their 4 lessons, but each lesson was a half hour full of laughter and smiles- from me mostly. wes, kim, and breanne (chris' sister) took them to their lesson when we were in Cancun, and they loved it. then we took barb and jerry to another lesson, and they also found it so amusing. chris was so sad to have missed 3 lessons, but was so happy to see them at their last one. fortunately more swimming lessons are on the horizon. i don't know when, but definitely living in Arizona, we want our kids to be good, safe swimmers.

here are some pics of the kids, curtesy of barb:


lily swimming with her teacher.

topher doing some can-can kicks on his back.

the kids holding their rings. well, lily dropped hers... topher is holding on tight.

topher getting his ring from the bottom of the pool!

lily and topher listening to their swim teacher. topher is listening while he spalshes around. but lily is listening and her teaher told us that she would hear the instructions then repeat them back to her teacher. funny kid.

learning to climb out of the pool safely