Roll Overs

Parker is still doing awesome in his swim classes, I'm always wowed by him with every class. Although, of course, as long as he at least has fun and is happy to be there, that's great. I haven't been getting the camera out during his classes because I don't want to distract him, but I just couldn't resist today--I wanted to catch this new move that he is learning. I know it's really hard to see in the video here, but he's learning to roll over while swimming from his tummy to his back, float on his back, and then roll back over to his tummy and swim. I'm pretty sure we're going to sign up for another session of lessons so he can keep going while he's doing so well and before school starts. Unfortunately, I'm spending a small fortune on frozen yogurt treats after every class ;)

Swimming!

We had a great time at Grammy and Grampy's pool yesterday! Parker must have gone under water twenty times, and by the end of our time there, he actually swam by himself three or four times (for just a few seconds, but still, it was genuine swimming totally immersed underwater without touching the bottom!)! We were so excited, including Parker...we even took him to Target afterwards and let him pick out a new Lego set and then had a shrimp BBQ for him that night! He already looked at me this morning and said, "Hey mom, I kind of want to go back to the pool today." So despite the gray skies, I think we'll be heading over there for more swimming in about a half an hour. He really loved having the underwater camera there to play with and to encourage him to put his face in the water...

We also dunked Levi underwater for his first time...it seems like he is truly going to be our fish. We all went to the beach on Saturday and took our boogie boards, and Levi just could not get enough of the water. The tide was low, and he would lay down on the boogie board while we pulled him along through the shallow water and wet sand by the leash, just like we do in the back yard. Jared even carried him out into water and he literally rode a little whitewater wave in to the beach. If we put the boogie board down, he would go get it, drag it down to the water, turn it around, and lay down on it, waiting for a wave to come get him. He was one of those kids who won't stop playing in the water, even though they're shaking with cold. I'll have to bring the waterproof camera to the beach with us next time!

Swimming at Grammy and Grampy's Pool

We are so thankful and lucky that we can pop over to my mom and dad's place to take a quick dip in the pool now that the weather has warmed up! I think it will really help Parker progress in his water-comfort-quotient this summer to get in the water as often as possible. He was happy to put his lifejacket on and swim around, which is a big step from a year ago even though it's still with a lifejacket on. Levi is a little unsure about the whole pool/water/swimming thing at first, but after we've been there for about 20 minutes or so he gets this look in his eye like he's going to just start jumping in with out announcing himself first (or making sure that there's anyone there to catch him). We always end up warming up in the jacuzzi, and Levi absolutely loves the "bubbles!!!" there.

Thanks to Dee and Niki, Parker will be taking swim lessons for the next month at a nice swim school in Carlsbad. I'm so excited to try out a new place for him this summer, especially since I really feel like he's at a tipping point with his ability and willingness and confidence to swim. I don't want to harass him with my camera during his lessons yet, as I'm afraid it might stress him out or distract him, so I'll have to post about that once he's had a few lessons under his belt!

Father's Day 2012

Jared went fishing in Mission Bay on the morning of Father's Day (he said the fishin' was good), and then the boys and I hopped aboard with a bag of sandwiches and snacks at lunchtime and we boated over to a cove that was perfectly sheltered from the wind. I know that deep down inside Parker really wants to swim, and I can tell that he's opening up to the idea of it and overcoming his fears more and more each day this summer. He was excited to put on his life jacket after lunch and start splashing and "jumping" in the water with Jared--they even swam back to the boat together from the little sand spit we were playing on. The wind made things kind of chilly, but we sure appreciated a sunny afternoon in June!! 

On a side note, Parker got bitten by a mosquito that Friday evening above his eyebrow, and by Saturday mid-morning his eye was hugely swollen--by Sunday morning it was nearly swollen shut. It was so hard to see him like that (he literally looked like a boxer after a fight), although it was some consolation that he really seemed unbothered by it and that the swelling went down almost entirely by Monday evening. It seems like he's just particularly sensitive to bug bites (he got so many bites on his head on our trip to Zion that I truly worried that he had lice), hopefully it's something that he grows out of. So, you might notice that his (left) eye looks a little funny in these pice.

Sailing With the Prindles

The "other" Prindle family--Nate, Lisa, and Alex--joined us for a fun-filled Saturday aboard Prudence this weekend. We lucked out with just perfect weather for a family day out--warm, sunny, clear, and just the right amount of wind to move along nicely while keeping the boat flat enough for everyone to lounge around up on deck while we were underway. This was Lisa's first time aboard a sailboat, so we wanted to make sure that she left with some good memories! True to form, Prudence took us right through a nice big pod of dolphins on their way to feed, so we all had that moment of excitement as we watched them all swim right past the bow of the boat. After sailing out and back for about two hours, we anchored in the harbor and enjoyed some snacks, music, swimming for the brave, and a dinghy ride for the boys. We tied the dinghy on back and Parker and Alex sat back there munching on pistachios for a while :) All in all, it was a perfect day, just the kind of thing that we were hoping to do with our family aboard Prudence. 

Swim Time

Grandpa Mark is in town for a week or so, so we've been able to visit with him a little bit poolside at the condo. It's been fun swimming with Parker now that he has been in his swim classes for about two months; he still isn't swimming on his own, so I'm a little troubled by that, but at the same time, I have to keep reminding myself that he has made huge progress in the water since last summer. A year ago, he often had to be coaxed to get into the pool, even to just sit on the stairs in the water, let alone put his face in the water and open his eyes! So, I have to remind myself that everything is relative...

Pool Partying

We've had gorgeous, hot sunny weather lately, so we've had plenty of opportunities to cool off in the water. 

Swim Class

Parker had his first swim class at the YMCA today. I wasn't sure how it would go, since we took a swim class together at the Y when he was about two years old, and it was pretty much a bust. He hasn't been super comfortable in the water in the past, but he's made huge progress in the last nine months or so (especially since our last trip to Lake Powell). It turned out that he did great in his class today--we haven't been giving him enough credit for all of the growing up that he has done this last year! I think preschool has made a huge difference for him. He totally participated in class today, and I'm so excited thinking that he will finally learn how to swim this summer. I've signed him up for two sessions of classes this month, so he'll have a total of eight classes by the end of June. We're also going to get lots of practice in this summer, seeing as how the weather has been beautiful and sunny almost every day so far--no May Gray to speak of, and no June Gloom so far, either! So we'll be doing plenty of swimming in Grammy and Grampy's pool, at the beach, and at Mission Bay. 

Pool Time!

Parker and Jared had so much fun swimming together in the pool at the hotel--they swam every night that we stayed there, even in the rain. Parker still doesn't know how to swim, but he is showing so much promise--we are sure that if he could just swim consistently for another week or so with Jared, he'd be there. He is finally feeling much more comfortable in the water and more confident to try out new things. He is going to start a swimming class at the local YMCA in another week, so hopefully that goes well and he enjoys it and this summer becomes the summer that he learned to swim!