Swimming Lessons

Tonight I am preparing. Tomorrow my children and I will pile in the car and drive to our swimming lessons .... in California.  :)

When we lived in California we had such a great swimming teacher. Sabrina and Ann Marie took from him for a long time. Then we moved. I tried a few other swimming teachers here and the one thing I have learned is how good I had it back there. 

I love the way this teacher in California teaches. Not only is he excellent with the children, but he has a wonderful method of teaching. He teaches kids to swim 4 strokes and then flip onto their backs and rest for 4 breaths. Then they flip back over and swim another 4 strokes. They repeat this process across the pool.

Every time I have gotten to the summer and tried to get swimming instruction for my kids I have thought, "Hmm. I just wish I could go to Cali for a week or two so we could take from Jason." So last month when Jon had a conference in California for a week and I had nothing planned to do while we were down there with him, I called up Jason and scheduled as many lessons as I could for that week.

It was a huge success. The first day after Lauren's first lesson she let go of her kicker board near the steps. The teacher was way across the pool and she kept going under. I didn't wait. I just walked fully clothed with Noble in arms down the steps of the pool to pull her up and out. I was wet but she was safe. Four days later she was independently swimming the length of the pool flipping on her back to breathe.

I figured I better reinforce the lessons by returning for another week. So track break started and we are off to get more lessons. Jon is staying here to work. It will be an adventure for me to have all 4 kids by myself on this "vacation." I love California. My kids love California. We are excited to see family and spend time swimming every day.

I won't be blogging while I am gone. I think my hands will be too full for that. So have a great week and I will let you know how it goes when I get back.

For those curious, the swim place I am going to is Aquadic Explorations in Los Alamitos. It is an indoor swim school and Jason Castner is the teacher we love. We also love his brother Jesse who also teaches there. For those in the area - or within a 5 hour drive :) -- they are worth checking out. Tell them Stephanie Waite sent you!