Swin Lessons!!

We signed the girls up for swim lessons at the YMCA a few weeks ago. The lessons were 30 minutes, 4 days a week for 2 weeks. I had no idea how the girls were going to do. They love the water but I wasn't sure what they were going to think of me not being in the pool with them. I was prepared for them to totally flip out. Here they are on their first day. Shane and I had really pumped them up for the lessons and they seemed excited. They went and sat down on the edge of the pool with the rest of their class....

Their teacher went over some safety tips and showed them how to do a safety slide into the pool from the edge and how to blow bubbles in the water with their face down. They both were pretty timid the first day but they did get in and held on for dear life as their instructor moved them around the pool...

By the end of the first day they were getting a bit more comfortable. I actually began to think that it may go way better than I had anticipated....

The rest of the first week went awesome. They both got more and more comfortable in the water and with their instructors and really seemed to be having a good time. They started kicking their legs really well and scooping their arms as well as putting their faces in the water. The class ended everyday with them jumping a few times off the side of the pool to their instructors. Gabbie was still a bit timid with the jumping, but Jocie leaped out like a frog. She was progressing a little faster than Gabbie b/c she wasn't as afraid and was willing to try new things quicker than Gab. After the first week I was super excited about how well things had went.....definitely exceeded my expectations.

THEN week two started....I have NO idea what happened. Seriously, NO idea. On Monday Shane was able to come with me to their lesson which I thought was going to be a GOOD thing, however, for some UNKNOWN reason, Jocie completely went nuts and REFUSED to get in the water. She threw the biggest fit ever and cried and screamed and kept on for the entire 30 minutes! Gabbie, on the other hand, became little Miss brave and did the entire swim lesson by herself and was trying all sorts of new things and loving every minute....it was CRAZY. I thought maybe it was just because the daddy was present. Not true. This was the exact same scene for the rest of the entire week. WHAT!?!? That's right. Jocie went ballistic and had to sit in time-out under the pavillion (which she LOVED by the way b/c she didn't have to get in the pool) and Gabbie became a little fish. Needless to say, it wasn't the most fun 4 days of my life but we made it through. I was bummed b/c by the end Gabbie was for real swimming, even under the water ALL BY HERSELF and Jocie was sitting throwing a fit. I had hoped that when we reached the end they both would be at the same level and that the swim lessons would have been worth it....regardless, at the end of the week, I was glad the daily battle (with Jocie) was over :)

Swim lessons the 2nd week...minus Jocie :)

Gabbie doing her "safety slide"....

Swimming to the "boo noodle" and back....

Jocie's permanent location the 2nd week :(

Gabbie surprised the heck out of me....I really thought out of the two that she may not do a SINGLE thing they asked her to do in the water b/c she is so timid....well, I was WRONG :)

On the last day of lessons they all put on life vests and practiced floating....

They also got to get in a boat. With the older 3 kids the instructors actually flipped the boat so the kids could learn to float if they were ever really flipped out of a boat. However, with the 3 younger kids they decided not to flip it....which I was glad of b/c I think that the Gabster probably would have lost her mind if that had happened :)

Gabbie didn't want the lessons to end....she LOVED it...

Swimming under the water ALL BY HERSELF!! So proud of you, Gabbie!

The day after their last lesson we were heading to Destin to visit the Summer Beach Project. SOOOOO, we would soon see if the swim lessons had really helped...that post coming soon :)