Swim Lessons

 Last week Ella had her first swim lessons with her friend Mariah.  It was pretty remarkable how different her reactions were from day one to day 7.  She was very hesitant during the first lesson, and would not even put her face in the water at all... but by lesson 6 (she wasn't in the mood during lesson 7) she was holding her breath and going all the way to the bottom of the pool to grab rings!  She is still not completely confident in water that is taller than her, since she hasn't really learned to actually swim in the water yet... but I'm sure it'll come. 

These girls are really just precious together.  I feel like Ella looks like such a big kid posing in the photo on the left.  On the right Ella is doing a very serious ballerina twirl in the water.

I did competitive swimming from the age of 5 to 15.  I love the water and hope my kids can have a love for swimming and playing in the water as well.  I just wish I could figure out a way to make swimming a regular occurrence.  It is almost impossible going to the pool by myself with two young kids to look after.  Luckily Charlottesville has a great wading pool that is really large and only about 2 feet deep.  We have gone a few times in the last week and a half, and Ella has been having a lot of fun running and diving around in the water.  It's nice because Ella can pretty much do her own thing while I stay close to Isaac.  That and spray grounds are probably as adventurous as I'll get this summer with the kids on my own!