Growing from fish to dolphins

That's what we call 'em now. Dolphins. Both Erin and Jeffrey are water obsessed this summer. They had lessons in June, and we hit the outdoor pool twice during the month, and the lake at least 3 times. Then this past week they had a mini swimming-camp. Really it was just 4 straight days of lessons.

Watching them, especially Erin, make huge strides in being comfortable in the water was so much fun. Erin progressed so far. In the beginning of June she was terrified to get her hair wet. We added some magic goggles (kind of like Dumbo's magic feather) and that made a lot of difference. She also had a great teacher in June who really helped her get over her fears of going under the water and getting her hair wet.

This past week she decided she was ready to try some new skills. There was a bigger boy in class who already could swim to the far end of the small pool and back. That was just what she needed. By the end of the 4th lesson Erin was "swimming" almost all the way across the pool, working on diving to the bottom to retrieve rings, and jumping into the deep end (10 ft. mark).

Jeffrey keeps progressing. He's working really hard on his freestyle stroke...we call it Ice Cream scoops. He's perfectly capable of jumping into the deep end of the pool and getting to the side all on his own. He has also been practicing his "pizza pulls" (kind of like a modified breast stroke) to get to the bottom of the pool and get dive sticks and rings.

We're getting ready for our trip to grandma and grandpa's next week. Since they have a pool we can show off all our new tricks. Until then here are a few videos to whet your appetite.