Ralph: Swimming Lessons!

A guilt that has been hanging over me since last summer is not finding a chance to fit swimming lesson's into the summer schedule.  I can blame in on the crazy tball schedule and the final tournament not being announced until late in the season THEN trying to fit in a quick summer vacation on top of that . . and for the most part all that is true but still should have squeezed in lessons . . .sometime.  The place we have gone does lessons in 4 straight days during the summer and it was a bit tough finding a time slot I liked in addition to the other challenges so I let it slide.  We did go to the pool a few times but it was obvious Ralph just needed more exposure to the water, something we were not able to provide as much as we should have.  Thinking ahead to this summer I thought we needed to squeeze in a lesson or two just for the chance of getting in the water and feeling more at ease so after getting the village (Mike and grandma and grandpa) involved I signed up Ralph for a session over the holiday break, an 18 month hiatus since his last lessons.

I told Ralph about the lessons 4 days before the started, some time to sink in but not enough time to fret too much.  He wasn't overly excited but did not protest much either.  Grandma and Grandpa were able to drop him off and pick him up both days.  After the 2nd day he had made much improvement - he was excited about all the things he had done; the teacher said he had 100% improvement.  He did good on day 3 and was fine the morning of day 4 . . . up until an hour before we were going to leave.  He didn't want to go, told me he gets cold when he gets out of the pool to stand in line to jump, and that he could just show me what he learned some other time.  Somehow our conversation got around to he wanted to wear a shirt . . .LUCKILY I had bought the shirt/short combo at the end of last season.  I showed it to Ralph and his mood instantly changed. 

The class spends the first 15 minutes reviewing and the last 30 minutes of the last class they have a "recital" where parents can watch.  Ralph did great.  They started with 10 bobs . . .and these were not quick bobs but underwater for seconds, they did some "supermans" (arms in front) and then they took turns jumping from the side of the pool two times then from the diving board.

At the end of the lesson I asked him if Henry could take lessons with him next time and he said yes - whew!  This place also has open swim times and "date nights" where the kids come in for 3 hours allowing parents to have a date night . .would give Ralph lots of time in the water.  He sounds really excited to do it . . of course, he wants Henry to come with him which I won't allow until Henry goes through a session.  If the village is on board we may sign them both up for lessons in March during LPS school break.

Christmas 2013!

Christmas was nice and quiet . . . We went to church then over to Grandma and Grandpa's for soup on Christmas Eve then back home.  The boys helped me get the milk and cookies ready before going to bed.We reminded Ralph on Christmas Eve that Smiley would be returning to the North Pole with Santa.  Ralph replies back "No, he'll just be in that box" and points to under the stairs.  

 . . .everyone slept all night and didn't wake up extra early, well, any earlier than usual.  While Mike was getting breakfast ready the boys finished off the crumbs left behind by Santa.  We ate breakfast and waited for Uncle Larry to arrive. 

 Finally, time for gifts!!

Ralph was very happy to received the Fire and Ice Sorry game.  He had written a note to Santa that Smiley had taken to Santa a few weeks ago after discovering the game.  All of the gifts were well received by both games - I'm still waiting to find out what Ralph didn't get that he wanted (thinking of the time he was 21 months and we found out he wanted a broom after Christmas).  They each also received a Kindle with very strict 20 minute/day limit.  After opening gifts, we had some time to play some of the new board games before going to Grandma and Grandpa's where we opened more gifts.

 At the end of the day Mike asked me my favorite part of the day . . . watching the boys play with the big dump truck & excavator they received followed by the board games and not even asking about the electronics/Kindle - this of course is because they hadn't discovered what games were on it yet.  It was fun to watch their imaginations as they played with the heavy equipment vehicles.

All in all, a good day spent with family members and many new gifts to enjoy for (hopefully) months to come!