Swim Time!

Ella and Aidan had their very first swim lesson this morning – day one of an eight week course at Charlotte Aquatics. I cannot say enough about how much fun we had, and well executed the class was!  Gigi, our instructor, is from Brazil and has a wonderful accent!  She is great with the kids and we felt comfortable with her right away!

We had been talking to the kids about going swimming for a few days, and both Ella and Aidan were so excited to finally put on their bathing suits and head over to the pool.  As soon as we entered the facility, both of them ran right in yelling “water-swim, water-swim”.  We had to wait  a few minutes while the earlier class finished up, and they stood captivated by all of the activity.

Ready to go!

We are here!

Patiently waiting:

Pretty girl:

Once our class began, Ella had absolutely no fear, and went right down the steps into the water (which was heated – so nice!). Aidan was a little more hesitant, but did just fine within a minute or two.  

We did lots of little games designed to get the kids into various swimming positions – picking up floating balls, tossing a toy and “swimming” after it across the pool, and sitting on the edge and hopping off into our arms.  

We even did a little trick with a hula hoop in which the kids had to “swim” from us to Gigi and put their heads under the water.  Ella did great and loved every minute, even asking to do it again and again! Poor Aidan, he was pretty mortified – but we expected that as he hates to get water on his head in the bathtub.

Ella and Aidan had such a great time!  We are so thrilled with the class and the facility – and even more happy that we are doing this for the kids.  It is so evident that these classes will make a drastic improvement not only in their enjoyment and skills related to swimming, but also in their overall knowledge of general water safety.

Splish splash!

Hanging out with Daddy in the pool:

One cute little frog:

So cute in their hooded towels: