Wow, triple digit temperatures have already arrived! I can only imagine what temperatures will be come August. This last week Ava had swimming lessons. My aunt and uncle built a new house last year complete with a gorgeous backyard and pool. Since our families spend a good amount of time together, my aunt wanted to make sure that the kids (Ava and my cousin Brittany's three kids) all had swimming lessons for safety reasons. My Aunt Carolyn works with a woman who teaches swimming and she was nice enough to meet us at my aunt and uncle's house each day last week for private lessons with Ava. I had a bad experience swimming when I was a small child and consequently didn't learn to swim until I was ten years old. I was also terrified of putting my face in the water. I was a little nervous about how Ava was going to handle the lessons. It turns out I shouldn't have been because Ava took to it like a duck to water (ha ha!). She was not afraid at all and just was so excited each day to get in the water. She gets her fearlessness from Kevin because I am generally not a risk taker. Ava's teacher, Miss Allison, was great because she was okay with us sitting outside and watching and Ava loved being able to show off for us. This way we were also able to get pictures throughout the week.
This is the first day of lessons and Ava is practicing just putting her face in the water.
She also discovered that she can stand up in the shallow end and walk back and forth.
Miss Allison taught her about "motorboating"(which made me laugh because I kept thinking about one of my favorite movies, Wedding Crashers--"You motorboatin' SOB. You old sailor, you.") "Motorboating" is just blowing bubbles in the water with your mouth.
She was so proud of herself!
In the afternoons after the lessons we would sometimes hang around and all swim. One of Ava's favorite things to do was put on a lifevest and then go jump off into the deep end. The vest still let her go completely under but would quickly pop her back up. She did this over and over, never holding her nose or worrying about keeping her eyes closed. Here she is in the background climbing up the ladder to get out and jump back in.
Practicing kicking...
And learning how to use her arms...
Miss Allison gave Ava a beach bag at the end of the week with a beach ball, goggles, sand pail and shovel, and a bunch of other swimming goodies because she did such a great job. Kevin and I let her pick out two new swimsuits, a couple of cover-ups, and a new float. We are so proud of her! We plan to continue to practice as much as possible this summer so that we can enjoy all the pools at the resort we are staying at on vacation.
The swimming lessons weren't until the afternoons and the heat was just unbearable even in the mornings. So we decided to break out Ava's new slip-n-slide (and let me tell you, slip-n-slides have come a long way since Kevin and I were kids!) and cool off that way until heading to the pool.
Ava couldn't wait to get it all set up so she could start sliding. Here she is striking a pose in her Jackie O/Audrey Hepburn sunglasses. She is such a ham!
Waiting patiently for the pool to fill up...
And finally, time to slide!!!!
Such a fun week in our busy summer!
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