Swimming Lessons

I don't think I ever posted about our horrible swimming lesson experience this spring.  Basically Aria had a teacher with a bit too much of an ego and a demeanor that did not fly with Aria.  He forced her under the water within the first 5 minutes of her first lesson and it was just downhill from there.  We removed her from the lessons and had to provide lots of encouragement to feel comfortable in the water again.  We decided to wait to do lessons again until this summer at an outdoor pool, far, far away from that teacher.

So, for the past 2 weeks, we had swimming lessons again and it was 100% better.  Aria's teacher was the perfect young lady to work with preschoolers.  She was friendly, happy, fun, and experienced.  My only hope for Aria in these lessons was for her to feel comfortable in the water again.  And she does!  She tried everything her teacher asked, except for the bob, which goes under water.  She no longer seems scared and even wanted to draw a picture for her teacher when the lessons ended.  I think it also helped that 5 of the 6 kids in the class knew each other from church.  It is always more fun to do things with friends!  A 20 minute drive across town every day for two weeks was worth the confidence gained and fun had by all!

 

We Got a Pool

We participated in a garage sale in May and earned some extra cash by selling most of Aria's baby stuff.  So, we decided to do something fun with our proceeds and bought a pool!  No, it isn't an in-ground, 20 foot pool by any means, but Aria absolutely loves it!  It is 10 foot in diameter and just over 2 feet deep.  It is a quick set pool, so we had to blow up the top ring and then the pool grows as you put water into it.  It has a filter, which we have hooked up, but we haven't done anything with chlorine, yet.  We aren't exactly sure what we need to do with the chemicals.  In the meantime, Aria has been in it every day.  I must admit, we did buy the pool for fun, but I also hope it helps Aria become more comfortable in the water.  She loves the water and swimming, but does not want to go under the water.  I know she will get there whenever she is ready, that is how she has accomplished most skills in her life, on her own time.  However, giving her an almost daily opportunity to try sticking her face in the water in her own pool seems to have more potential for success than a weekly trip to the public pool.  Our pool is just deep enough to let her float around on her tube and kick and swim, yet shallow enough that it only comes up to her waist when she stands up straight.  And there is room for us to get in with her.  It truly feels like summer having a wet swimsuit hanging in the bathroom and a little girl who smells like sunscreen and swimming pool every day.

Swimming With Sophia

Aria's good friend Sophia invited our family to go swimming with her family to celebrate her 4th birthday.  We went to a local hotel that allows people to pay a $4 fee and swim in their pool.  What a clever idea!  We basically had the pool to ourselves the whole morning and had an absolute blast! We were thoroughly worn out afterwards.  Thanks for letting us celebrate with you, Sophia!

Wisconsin Dells 2013

It seems to have become an annual tradition to spend a few days in the Wisconsin Dells with Justin's family.  This year we stayed in a super nice 4 bedroom condo at the Wilderness.  We were there the weekend after Labor Day so all of the outdoor stuff was closed, even though it was still 90 degrees out.  I have one complaint with all water parks in general, why must every slide and apparatus be so loud and spray so much water in the face??

Exhibit A

Cubby's Cove.  An entire water park area designated for younger kids.  Great idea, right?!?  What three-year-old wants to go down a slide that when she sits down there is water spraying right in her eyes?  Mine certainly didn't!  She definitely would have went down this slide all by herself, probably a zillion times, along with the other 4 in this area if they didn't have water spraying her face.  Instead, she went on laps with her tube covering her face.

This green one was a bit better because you could get past the spray at the top pretty fast and then it was a slower, curvy slide.  She still was really nervous about it, but you can see an almost smile at the bottom with Daddy.  She did eventually (with a little push from mom) go down the slide by herself and liked it.

Despite the water in the face slides, we all did have a good time in the pool and the big people enjoyed the big people slides.  :)

We ate at Buffalo Phil's one night, which was a restaurant that brought your food to you on a train.  It was super cool to Aria, but not to Aunt Teran when the train derailed and dumped water in her purse.

Buffalo Phil's also had an arcade and small amusement park ride building attached. 

We also enjoyed one of the infamous Wisconsin Dells duck boat rides where we saw this about 20 feet from our boat.

And we went mini golfing!

One of the great bonuses of being in Wisconsin is the abundance of Packers gear for sale!  We all came home with some new green and gold!

It was nice to spend a few days away with family!

Swimming

Of course swimming is an essential part to any vacation if you are travelling with a 3 year old.  I do enjoy swimming, especially with Aria and when the pools are so warm, but what I really love is the leaps in her confidence and ability when you swim every day for a week.  She still doesn't want to go completely under water and she can't swim completely on her own, but she is only 3.  She does fabulous swimming around on her own in her tube and doesn't mind getting splashed in the face.  We had a fabulous, clean, large, fun pool in Niagara Falls and a small, dirty pool to make do with in Pennsylvania.  Aria enjoyed them both without judgment.  Justin started most swimming sessions with his cannonball...

And Aria got pretty good at her own version...

Here are a couple videos of her doing it all by herself by the end of the week:

And, I think, that concludes my plethora of posts about vacation.  What a great week we had!