Pool, pool, pool

We renewed our membership to the rec center again, and have already "paid" for it since we renewed Memorial Day!

The boys do great there this year!  There are two pools (and an indoor one).  One we call the park pool, since it has slides and fountains and a lazy river, and the other we call the jump pool, because we jump there. 

Z can go anywhere in the park pool, including the lazy river and the big waterslide, both because he can touch and because he swims well enough.  The littles don't have to wear their puddlejumpers in the park pool because they can touch everywhere, but they can't go in the lazy river.  The littles do great looking out for each other, and it is so cute!  They will all go down the slide and wait for each other, then head up again together.  They just tromp all over together.  Most of the time Z is with them, except when he wants to go on the big slide or if he finds a friend from school at the pool (which is nice!).  I am able to just sit on the side and watch them (although I am constantly counting 1-2-3-4) but at least I don't have to be in there with them. 

After we're done at the park pool we put the boys puddlejumpers on and all go down to the jump pool together.  Z does great, and just yesterday went of the diving board for the first (and second and third and fourth...) time.  He graduated from the mask goggles to the regular goggles, too.  The littles are doing great too, and all 3 of them just jump right off the side whether we're close or not.  They also love to just paddle around and love us to throw them.  They are fine getting totally soaked. 

This week we had swim lessons.  We took them through SwimAmerica, and I feel like Z got a ton out of it.  The littles also took lessons, but they were still small enough that they didn't really learn a ton.   Z started learning how to do the forward crawl, and will still need some lessons to solidify it.  But I am confident of him in the pool now.  I'm considering lessons again later in the summer...but we'll see. 

Aunt Emily has a pool at her condo, so we made our first trip there (and it was the first of what will be weekly trips!).  It was a great, huge, empty, deep pool!  Z and I had sooo much fun.  I was able to just play with him in the water...we did cannonballs together, practiced "diving", splashed, and just goofed around for about an hour and a half.  Jenny and I were such fish as kids, and this totally reminded me of that.  The problem with our rec center is that I can't really play with the kids in the park pool, and the jump pool isn't huge and is crowded.  I think that going to Emily's pool will really help Z get some practice swimming.  The littles had fun too, but they were tired out from swim lessons and it was kind of cold that day, so they sat curled up in towels and on Emily's lap and watched us, happy as could be.  It was seriously so much fun...I can't wait to go again!