Swimming, cont.

The kids will be swimming Monday-Friday for all of July.  When I arrived for the second day of lessons with the kids, I was informed that they would be moving up to level 2, since they were very comfortable in the water and would essentially be wasting their time in level 1.  The class size increases from 8 kids with 2 instructors to 12 kids with 3 instructors.  Do the math and the ratio of instructor to student is still the same, but just more kids to keep track of.  Most of the kids in their class are five years old and some can even almost touch the bottom in the family pool...so Lucas and Liliana are now small fish in a big pond.  The classes are a little challenging, but that's good for them.  I would rather they be learning than bored.

In the class, they practice holding to these floating bars and kicking, lying flat back and kicking, etc. They seemed excited to participate....

Shortly after this picture below was taken, Liliana and Lucas were holding on to the wall, and having so much fun, they decided to let go and try and swim (some of the older kids in the class know how to doggie paddle, and I think they thought they could do it.)  All three instructors were with other students going across the pool....and Lucas and Liliana went under and couldn't get above the surface.  Parents are not allowed anywhere on the pool deck and I saw this all from afar.  Luckily, each class has its own lifeguard that sits right next to the kids (see him sitting in a chair right there?)....within a few seconds of realizing that they couldn't surface, the class lifeguard, plus another lifeguard were diving into the pool to bring the kids to the surface.  Liliana was not fazed at all...Lucas was scared and wanted to come out of the pool area.  I walked away from the fence so that he couldn't see me and wouldn't come out.  He didn't swim for the rest of the lesson (about 10 minutes) but he stayed there which is good.

This is our little spot we go to after the lesson for a drink and snack.  We can watch the sailing school as we relax in the shade.  I am happy to report that both kids remained on the wall during lessons today(when not with an instructor).  Seems our days of throwing ourselves into the water have passed...at least for now.