Swim Lessons

Ava has taken swim lessons at the Atlanta Swim Academy for a little over a year now. Ms. Meg was normally her teacher. She has done SO great with these lessons! When we first got inot the lessons, Ava didn't even like water being poured over her head in the bathtub. My, how things have changed. She is now our little mermaid, doing underwater "torpedos" and swimming strongly.

Normally the classes at the academy have 4-6 kids in them. They try to get them to swim on their own by the end of the Seahorses class, in which Ava was enrolled.

For the longest time, Ava would use a #1 floatie, which was the thinnest floatie they had. These floaties are tied around their waist, with the floatation part on their back. Ava would say that she just couldn't swim without the floatie. Ms. Meg told us that if she got to a #1, that she could do it on her own. She now knows how to swim underwater, kicking her legs, come up for air to take a breath and go back under and swim the remainder to the wall. She does like to try to swim on top of the water more, at this point, but since we've told her it is easier to swim underwater, she seems to be more inclined to go that route.

I know Ava would absolutely flourish in dance classes and gymnastics, but I really felt like we needed to get this "basic" started with her first, before getting into something superfluous like dance or gymnastics.

We decided to take the summer off of swimming, so Ava can have a break and just enjoy the water. Our pocketbook likes the break, as well. :) Liam was such a sport. He would sit on the bench with us, watch the kids swim, eat his snack and play with a small train he brought from home. Thanks for being such a trooper, Liam! Your turn will be here soon.

Check out the link below, which I took with my phone. We couldn't often take a great picture in the pool, as the humidity would fog up the camera instantly, before we could get pictures. Here is Ava in ACTION! :)



Peace, love and lots of chlorine molecules,
Shelly, Doug, the mermaid and the voluntary bench-sitter

Swimming Classes!

Ava has really done well under the instruction of Miss Meg at the Atlanta Swim Academy.  I think she took about six months of classes, total. 

She whittled her backpack floatie (Meg decides which one based on their skill level from the previous week) down to a "One".  The #1 floatie is the thinnest one they have.  Meg mentioned to me quietly, before she even put the #1 on Ava, that if Ava could swim with the #1 floatie, she could swim without anything at all.

We LOVE. Miss. Meg.  She had Ava swimming without any floaties.  For some reason, though, Ava doesn't think she can swim without it.  She is amazingly comfortable being in water, is a fish, loves to go underwater, and loves to swim with a noodle out in front of her, but she would prefer not to swim without a floatation device of some sort.  I would bet by this time in 2012, she will be swimming without any floatation needs of any kind.  It is fun to watch her, she enjoys it so much.  :)

I got a video on my cell phone of Ava swimming without any floaties, which she did often in Meg's class. 

We're proud of Ava and are happy she enjoys the water, above all.

Peace, love and agua,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam