Sink or Swim

It's swim lesson time for our two kiddos.  They started off very excited....and while Emily will probably be mortified that I posted this picture some day, somehow I think Ethan will always just look at his and laugh...they were too good to not share.

 

 

Ethan's lessons are first every day. He is sort of focused...and very cold.  The poor kid has blue lips and chattering teeth and shivers the whole time, but loves being in the water.

 



Taking a spin around the pool with his teacher.

 



 

Just chilling (with goggles on, of course)!

 



 

And while Emily waits, she spends most of her time in the lazy river portion of the swim center.

 



But she also enjoys a good slide as well.

 



And who can resist the bubbling fountains?

Then it's time for her lessons.  She's not really enjoying them nearly as much as she thought she would.  She's hanging on to the float with a death grip and has a look of grim determination.

She's having issues with trust..even when she floats on something.

 



 

And while the cat's away, the mouse will play...hard!

 

 



He's (mostly) fearless in the 6 inch water.

 

But he loves his goggles and wants to wear them all day.

 



 

 

Blowing bubbles in the water.  He spends most of the time in the water appearing to swim.  He looks pretty good, as long as you don't realize he's in, at most, a foot of water!!

 



 

 

I'm going to take an educated guess that at the end of week two (this week), neither kid will still be able to swim, but hopefully if nothing else, we'll have gained some good familiarity with the water and swimming techniques.  And then.....school starts for another year.

A Day at the Beach

 

Saturday was one of those utterly gorgeous days that you wish you could bottle up and save forever.  The sky was beautifully blue and almost cloudless, the breeze was gently blowing, the temperature was 75 with low humidity and in short, it was a perfect day for the beach.

 

I used to scoff at the idea that Indiana (or in this case, our northerly next-door-neighbor Michigan) had a beach.  After all I grew up on the East Coast where a 45-minute drive would take you to the Atlantic Ocean.  The real Beach.  But I have to admit that our little beach overlooking Lake Michigan is awfully nice and pretty darn close to the real thing.

 

Nothing but blue skies, blue water, warm soft sand and the sound of the waves lapping the shore...I think I could live there quite happily.  The kids are fond of it too.

 

 

Ethan is still pretty tentative around the water, and considering the waves take him out every time we go, who can blame the guy?  But he does love splashing his feet in the water.

 



 

And then there's Emily.  She's anxious and fearful about so many things in life, but she does love the water....and the camera.

 

I guess the beach makes everyone a little less reserved in front of the camera!  Ethan showed us his muscles.

 

Last time we came here, Emily could hardly hang in one place on the monkey bars.  This time, she was swinging from them like...well, a monkey!

 

Ethan loves a good slide and what kid doesn't love a playground ON the beach?

 



 

And then there's Miss Photogenic.  I don't tell her to pose.  She just enjoys it.  Perhaps she's our future supermodel....she's got the legs for it!

 

And just to prove that I was there....

Andrew and I took turns watching the kids and relaxing.  I took them for a walk where they stopped to look for "treasures".  There aren't nearly as many shells on this beach, but they did find a few small ones plus some driftwood.

 

Toward the end of our walk, we found a huge piece of driftwood, so it seemed like a good place for some pictures.

 

 

I like this one of Emily a lot.

 

My little beach bums!