My Little Mermaids

I started the summer with the intention of teaching Chloe to swim. She is five, and needs to know. I spent a week at the beginning of summer teaching Emi and Chloe the basics, and making them practice. Emi caught on pretty quickly, but Chloe was not interested. She could make it to the side if she fell in, but she was not enjoying it one bit. Fast forward to August. After seeing Emi swim at Hayden's birthday party, Chloe is a bit more interested. In fact, she started practicing by herself off to the side of the pool, so she could grab onto the wall if needed. Gradually her confidence grew, and she was getting better and better.

Meanwhile, miss Ellie has been asking me to teach her to swim all summer, so I've been helping her practice kicking and monkey walks and that sort of thing, not thinking she was ready to actually swim. Well, she proved me wrong. Not to be outdone by the big girls, Ellie decided she was ready. She started by swimming a few strokes to me from the steps, and then back. Maybe 2 feet at a time. That was Monday. This video was taken on Thursday. The girl can swim. She is 3 years and 4 months old. We are amazed!

I'm very proud of both of my girls- they decided they wanted to swim, and here they are. I'm also proud of Hayden, for showing them how its done, and helping Ellie practice. Next Summer: The Diving Board.