Goodbye Summer, So Long Swimming Pool

Labor Day has come and gone, and with the holiday came the closure of our neighborhood pool until next summer. We have used the pool more this year than any other year since moving into Signal Creek neighborhood.

I'm not going to lie, it ain't easy getting out of the house with three little ones, and so being able to walk down the street to the pool made for an easy a possible outing for the day.

Emily and Addison became even more advanced in their swimming skills as the summer progressed. Addison got comfortable blowing bubbles in the water, and Emily became obsessed with putting her whole head underwater (a skill she added challenges to as she got more and more comfortable in the water, head under while she dove for swim toys, head under while she opened her eyes, head under while she tested out random lost and found goggles, etc). There were days when I actually felt like Emily was MORE comfortable in the water than on land. One of our new neighbors, a little four year old named Wyatt, taught Emily how to hold her arms above her head in a diving position, then showed her how he would cut through the water, kicking his legs. This became her new swimming position, and she practiced it often. I didn't think to register Emily for any formal swimming lessons until we were too far into the summer and the chance had passed, but she did a lot of observing, and copied what she saw older kids doing. She will definitely be ready for swim lessons next summer!

Addie increased her helping-others-skills while at the pool. Our baby pool is fenced off and there is a gate that connects the little pool to the larger pool area. Addie taught herself how to unlatch the gate, and then became adept at watching and listening for anyone who may be getting ready to go through the gate. At the first sign of someone needing to come through the gate (she would watch for people with kids to walk up to the main gate at the pool, she would listen to conversations around the little pool, waiting for people to talk about getting ready to go) she ran to the gate to open it and hold it while people marched through. Before I realized what she was doing, she got in trouble for continually opening the gate, but once I recognized the pattern, and realized she was just being her helpful self, I would just sit back and watch in amazement, knowing that if she were opening the gate, there would surely be someone coming or going within a minute or two.

Elizabeth became more and more comfortable being in the water as the summer progressed. The following videos are from the very beginning of the summer, I think it was the second time Elizabeth had ever been in the floaty star. By the time Labor Day came around, she was able to sit in the star for at least 15 minutes, watching the big kids splash and play all around her. She also really enjoyed being held in the big pool, something I was able to do when Emily and Addison wore their water wing floats in the big pool. Chris even got to blow in her face and dunk her under water a couple of times before the end of the season.

There will be more pool pictures to come, although not as many as I would have liked, as my camera didn't travel with us to the pool very often. But in the meantime, here are a few lost videos from June, when we first started enjoying the pool.