love and other wonders: August Swimming...Lessons?

The kids and I headed to the pool again this morning, for Montgomery and Johngideon's swimming lessons. It was nice that everyone "wanted" to go...or at least they did by the time they got there. ;o) While Montgomery had her lesson, Maia continued with her water exercises, and the boys threw each other around in the shallow end, or rather the youngers attacked Job and he delightedly threw them around. I got to sit and chat with a friend I'd been trying to connect with for a couple of weeks, but we'd been delayed by things like life and the stuff of schedules.

After Gommy's lesson was over, it was Johngideon's turn. I think because it's August, a good number of families are on vacation, so Johngideon's lessons this week have so far worked out to be private affairs. Which would be a delight for a family of seven, such as ours, on a reasonable budget, such as ours, to have paid for group lessons yet wound up with private ones, except that Johngideon decided today (as he'd done Friday) that it was too chilly for swimming lessons, so spent quite a lot of time on the side of the pool, huddled into himself, while his two -- yes, I did say TWO -- instructors stood over him trying to cajole him back into the pool. (Needless to say, his mother was not amused.)

See, there he is above, the small bundle of red miserableness at the far end of the pool, between the two -- yes, I did say TWO -- instructors standing on either side, promising him all manner of things if he'll just get back in the water. (Meanwhile Maia is peacefully and thankfully obliviously swimming her laps.)

And again, hunkered down into a small ball this time (to the left of the lifeguard this time...who is watching this scene in amused disbelief), having brought one of his instructors to her knees (I think the poor girl just gave up!) (oh, for a better zoom camera to capture the expressions on their faces!)...

True, there was a bit of a wind today, but it hadn't seemed to bother him too much thirty minutes earlier when he was joyfully and shriekedly being thrown all over the water WWF-SmackDown-style by his big brothers. Hmmmm.....

While Johngideon was causing his instructors to think it would probably be easier to have a class full of twelve kids instead, Montgomery was snuggling under a big towel on a lounger by her other brothers, enjoying a little sun-warming time while they tossed a wet towel at each other.

When Johngideon finally had endured the full-length of the excruciating 30-minute(!) (really?!) lesson, he dragged himself (shivering violently for effect) back to a lounger and "thawed out" in the sun...which was exactly what his older brothers were up to by now. Isn't it funny how the boys' feet hang through the threads on the loungers...

Job was actually just trying to stay on the thing, I think, because he seems to have grown longer than it! Montgomery, meanwhile, had headed off to the kiddie pool to play with some new friends.

Speaking of Montgomery, Craig has been teaching her to swim all summer long, and wow, has she learned! She went from a kid just walking around in the shallow end, to a bonefide deep water dogpaddler! Last week in South Carolina, she was sliding down the slide all by herself and "swimming" to the ladder. And late last week at swim class (her first professionally taught lessons in months), she jumped off the diving board for the first time in her life!...