Lessons Complete

Today was the last day of swimming lessons. The kids both got promoted up two levels! Josiah was in Preschool Level 2. Instead of going to Preschool Level 3 next time, they suggest moving him to Level 1. Mackenzie was in Level 1 and they suggest Level 3 for her next time. I am so proud of all they have accomplished! I am thankful for their teachers who were all wonderful. Josiah's class had the opportunity to jump off the diving board, into the 15 ft deep water, for the first time today. He was so excited!! The above picture is of him in mid-air.
Here he is "swimming" to the side (with the help of his teacher, of course!) after jumping off the diving board.

He loved it! Here he is jumping again. He was so brave! I am so proud.


This picture (above) was taken yesterday as he jumped from the side of the pool. At the end of the lesson each day, the kids lined up and jumped in from the edge.

This was also yesterday...Mackenzie learned to dive! Anna, her teacher, was great! Mackenzie was an eager learner. I'm so proud of her!

A cuddly little boy waiting for his sister's class to end. :)

I am so thankful that my children have had the opportunity to learn how to swim.
I have attempted to upload videos for the first time. Sadly, an error has occurred during the upload. I was able to capture one of Mackenzie's dives from yesterday, and each of the kids jumping off the diving board today. Perhaps it will upload tomorrow!

Ha, ha. I just hit publish post and the video is now working! Go figure. I'm a happy camper, though. I think you can click on the play arrow button and watch all four videos. Enjoy!

Swimming Lessons & Diving Boards

We are enjoying swimming lessons this summer! We are in the middle of the two week session, and I decided it was time for a blog post. The picture below is of my little man, standing in front of the pool, ready to begin. You'll notice the diving boards are in the background, over to the right. Josiah learning to float! His nice teacher was trying to help keep the bright sun out of his face. :)
A proud little man...learning so much. He told people on the first of day lessons that his sister can swim but he can't swim without floaties so he is here to learn how to really swim! He is doing a great job of learning, too.

They use kick boards and noodles to help the children learn.

I zoomed in on the hospital, which is just beyond the pool, on the other side of the Tennessee River! Cool pic, huh?! (Go back up to the first picture to see the true distance from the pool...look just behind Josiah.)

The girl floating in the light yellow swim suit is my Mackenzie! Look at her go!!!

A close up of Josiah.

On the third day of lessons, the teacher offered for any children who wanted to jump off the diving board to come with her. Only four children went to the board. Of those four, only two actually jumped. My determined little girl was one of those two who did jump! The first time, the teacher had her jump holding on to a noodle.

The teacher was waiting in the 15 ft water as Mackenzie jumped! She looked directly at me with such a proud smile on her face after that first jump.

Then she swam, using the noodle, to the wall.

The second time she jumped was without the noodle!

You see the splash in the water in the picture below? Yep, that's my Mackenzie! You can't see her as she is under the water having just jumped off the diving board. WooHoo!

Her teacher watched as she resurfaced and swam to the edge. I'm so proud of her for getting up there and jumping without giving it a second thought!

Her teacher let her jump off the diving board one more time that day. I love picture below, where I zoomed in on her fearless jump from the diving board. She loves to swim, and she loves to excel in all that she does. I do believe she is competitive. ;) She was quite pleased to have gone off the board, even though most of her class opted out!

I am so proud of my two kiddos. They are doing a great job of listening to their teachers and learning more about swimming.

Weekend Getaway!

David had a nuc med conference out of town this weekend, so while he was in one city, the kids and I headed to another! We totally enjoyed a weekend getaway with my mom. We stayed Friday and Saturday night in a hotel and thoroughly enjoy our time together. (Though we missed David and Mark!) We spent Saturday morning at the zoo. I think the kids favorite part of the zoo was the playground. It is huge and nice! Josiah's precious little face was very determined as he climbed!
Mackenzie was so proud of how tall she has become. She can jump up and reach things that she could not reach just six months ago.

Josiah was brave as he climbed on the ropes. Last time he was a bit afraid of the ropes...but not this time! Watch him go! (I was too slow in getting over there to get a picture of Mackenzie climbing the ropes. She was already to the top!)

If you look closely at the above picture, you might get a glimpse of Josiah in his bright orange shirt. Yeah, he's the little dot climbing high in the ropes! I think this picture gives you a pretty good idea of the elaborate nature of this playground.

Here's Mackenzie climbing/crawling across the green ropes. Both kids loved climbing and exploring the playground.

Josiah, Nona (my momma), and Mackenzie watching the African elephants.

A trainer had it pick up a huge log while we were watching.

And, of course, the giraffes. Aren't they elegant?!

Josiah, Nona, and Mackenzie.

I had trouble deciding which one of these two I liked the best, so I uploaded them both! This picture is in front of the giraffes, though you can't see them because I was zoomed in on my mom and the kiddos! :)

Then, on Saturday afternoon, we swam! The kids swam 3 different times over the weekend. While they swam with Nona on Saturday, I got to go shopping all by myself! Thanks, Momma!

As you can see, the kids LOVE the water.

I have enjoyed seeing how much improvement they have both made in their abilities to swim over the past few months. We hope to get some more lessons this summer. For now, the extra time in the pool was great practice for them! I am thankful for a fun and safe weekend. I am thankful for the time with my momma! :)