Swimming lessons

Summertime is swimming lesson time.

This was the Monday following school getting out.  Warming up with some frog jumps across the sand.  Talmage is on the far left--look at his big hop!

 More warming up.

Hazel jumping in.

Talmage

Ethne (obviously)

 Orrin and Wyatt are too little for lessons but got to play at the kiddie pool.

Ethne and Talmage are in the same class, trying to learn to swim on their own.

Jethro

It's all about hoarding the floatee-things.

It was good that I took my camera on the very first day because it was the ONLY nice day.  The second day it was rainy and gray and cold, but when we checked the website it said that there were no open indoor pools, so they would have lessons at the outdoor pool in spite of the weather.  The kids said their teachers just kept them in the water most of the time, because the water was warmer than the air.  The rest of the days of the week it was rainy and lessons were held at an indoor pool in Bern.  Which was annoying because then they had to pay an entrance fee to get in, which they didn't have to at the outdoor pool.  And these lessons already cost a LOT!  Oh well, swimming lessons are important.  

Hazel was the only one who passed her level- yay!  Jethro took another course this week, and the other kids will take another course in two weeks (when Jethro is gone to a Youth Trek).  Brett also took a course this week, on his lunch break (as if he ever takes a lunch break), and the first day he came home after his lesson looking like a drowned puppy.  He said he swallowed half the pool.  I told him that's why I wanted him to take the lessons.  He's an okay swimmer, but not super confident, so I thought even one week might make a difference.  He only has one more lesson left (he missed the first day because he was in London), and he says he feels lukewarm about the lessons.  I'm not sure exactly what that means.

How else has our summer been going?  Well, it rained all last week and was cold.  LAME.  Brett went to London for three days/four nights, but it felt so much longer to me.  I was so happy when he got home.  Because I love him.  The end.