Just Keep Swimming

So, it turns out that we got back home to Minnesota just in time for the beautiful part of Spring.  From what I hear, while we were enjoying the pool and the beach in Florida, our Minnesotan friends were cursing their lives dealing with a wet, rainy, muddy and cold Spring.  We missed all of that!  Couldn't have had better timing.  We pulled up to our house to a neighborhood full of lush green lawns and blossom trees blooming.  It's really beautiful here this time of the year.

And warm.  I sort of expected us to have to put jackets and long pants back on, after being in shorts and t-shirts for two months.  But we didn't.  We had a seamless weather transition.  It has even been warm enough for the kids to play in the sprinkler.  They also begged to play on the slip n' slide.  Both were fun afternoon activities, but I have to admit...

They ain't no pool.

I think the pool was my very favorite part of living in FL.  We took the kids swimming as often as we could, and I really enjoyed our afternoon, pre-dinner swims.  Spiff's schedule was such that he could often join us in the afternoons, which was made even more awesome when he decided to teach the kids how to swim.  In the five weeks we were able to work on it, Gunner went from not being able to put his face in the water to being able to swim an entire length of the little pool and back.  He can do flips, back floats, underwater tea parties, and dive down to pick something up from the bottom of the pool.

Hobbes figured out how to kick around and propel himself around the pool while wearing his life jacket.  He figured out that the most fun game int he world is to jump in the pool over and over and over again.  He also figured out how to blow bubbles and kick around the pool after Daddy with his face in the water.  He was the world's cutest little fish.

It was so very cool to watch their progress.  It's super neat to watch my kids learn new skills. 

One thing I that impressed me the most as I watched them learn and play is that they were really loving it.  Being at the pool meant happiness and joy.  Swimming with friends was even better.  I watched them kick, splash, move and play, and I saw how much fun they were having.  I also remembered that I never experienced that as a child. 

I never learned how to swim as a kid.  I grew up in rural Idaho where pools are not plentiful.  I am the fourth child.  I remember taking lessons as a young child (probably three years old) with my older siblings, but I think swimming just wasn't a priority and was forgotten.  I remember going going to pool parties as I grew up, watching my friends play while I hung on to the edge of the pool, wondering why everyone thought it was so much fun.  What was all the fuss about?!

Not that I didn't have fun in the water.  I also grew up waterskiing.  Yes, I waterskiied as a kid, not knowing how to swim.  It never occured to me that there was something wrong with that.  Spiff, the former life guard, is actually appalled by this.  But I wore a floaty wet suit and a life jacket, and felt completely safe.

Since marrying Spiff, he has taught me some things, and I can now say that I can swim a freestyle lap.  Of a short pool.  I can also say that I would be comfortable taking a class and improving my skills.  I have always been too scared before.

But as I watched my kids enjoy the water, I realized what the fuss is all about.  I realized that swimming can be fun for kids!  That I was all wrong about it as a kid!  I am happy that we were able to experience that fun with them.  Gunner's very most favorite thing was to hang out underwater.  It's a whole new world down there.

Our next goal is to sign the kids up for swimming lessons.  I don't want them to lose the skills they learned down there.  Gotta just keep them swimming!