One Fish, Two Fish

The boys took swim lessons this summer, and they really enjoyed it! Mrs. Doris rocks! :) It was Jackson's 2nd year with her and Preston's first. While Preston was not much for the whole head in the water thing, and he was busy worried his band-aid on his toe might fall off in the pool so he tried to swim holding his toe out of the water (hilarious to watch trust me!), he still did great. He really wasn't afraid of the water beforehand..he's always been very good about that for his age. Still though he is even less afraid now. Maybe not a good thing..not sure. :) Both kids loved the diving part. And, she is super good about teaching survival skills. One day (when I didn't have my camera) they even had to jump in with long pants, long sleeve shirts, and shoes on! She wanted them to see how it would feel to swim with clothes on in case they ever fell in the pool fully clothed. See why I love her? How practical! :)

Notice how his hair is dry...

And, Jackson's is sopping wet.

See Jackson above practicing all on his own. They had trouble keeping him on the steps this year! He was just r.e.a.d.y. Nothing was holding this boy back. Where he lacked in perfect technique, he made up for it in courage and determination!

They both (even Preston) loved diving down to grab the rings and water Woody! :) (from Toy Story in case you are confused.)

Preston also hates the sun in his eyes..haha! He is so silly! And, to think her pool has a canopy on it!

So, when it was all said and done, we had fun and learned alot...

AND...drum roll..Jackson got his LEVEL ONE swimmer's card! I wasn't sure she'd do it. They unexpectedly tested him the last two days, and he was really close. She said she'd go ahead and give it to him providing that he keep working hard. I was like yeah right. We were headed to the beach, and I admit I was thinking he will want arm floats. Nope. He RARELY uses them at all now. Especially if he can almost touch. He jumps in without them, swims without them, and only really needs them when his sugar has been low and he is tiring out or when a pool we are in is 4 feet or deeper throughout the entire pool. I am so proud of him! Several times this year we went to water parks where you could not wear arm floats and he couldn't touch at the bottom, and he went on down, swam face in to the steps, and proved he deserved that level 1 card! I think his own pride in himself really drove him. Congrats, sweet boy!

And, Preston, you did great, too! Just think you started swimming lessons with Mrs. Doris a whole year before big brother and you are already doing like he was when he was four!