We Have Not Given Up on Swim Training our Children

Since our Home Owners Association decided not to open our pool this summer, our plans for teaching our children to swim during Summer 2011 have been seriously delayed.  We were not able to just walk over to the pool whenever we had an extra hour here and there.  Instead, we had to find a local pool that had hours that fit our schedule or go to the beach.

The children did get to the beach to start their swim training earlier this summer and seemed to be much more receptive to playing in the water while wearing their swim vests than they have during past visits to the beach.  They were able to go to another beach recently, but it was more of the type of beach where there is a lot of marine life.  Since the tide was suppose to be very low, we left the swim vests at home.  Well, it turned out that the water would have been perfect for swimming and we were lucky that my mother-in-law had a flotation device we could use for our daughter, who was very eager to go in the water.  She seems much more comfortable in the water than her two brothers and may be ready to use a kickboard soon.

The same weekend, my husband took our oldest son to a local pool.  He wore his Power Swimr Swim Vest and enjoyed splashing around, but he would only stay where is feet could touch the bottom of the pool.  We have not gotten to the point where we could remove some of the layers of flotation pads yet.  My husband said that his father just picked him up and threw him in the deep end when he learned to swim as a child, but I think I am too overprotective to allow that.

The summer is quickly coming to an end.  Instead of losing momentum for our daughter, I am considering finding a local pool that is open during the fall and winter where we can continue the swim training.  I would have to find a pool with reasonable rates and a schedule that works around school, soccer practices and games, and dance classes.

If you are considering swim training during the fall and winter, you may want to take advantage of SwimWays' End-of-the-Season Storewide Sale, which runs through Labor Day 2011.


Thank you to SwimWays for providing complimentary product samples for us to swim train our children this summer.

Playing Plus a Little Swim Training at the Beach

In June, I had announced that my family was chosen to be part of the SwimWays Swim Steps Swim Team.  We had waited anxiously for the pool in our townhouse community to open at the end of June only to find out that the Homeowners Association decided not to open the pool this year in order to complete some repairs.  Still wanting to teach our 3 children to swim, we will have to make due with visiting the local indoor pools and various beaches.  Luckily, my mother-in-law's family owns a house on a private beach, so the children were able to do a little swim training on a beach that was fairly quiet.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Since we wanted our 4.5 year old twins to be able to wear their swimsuits, we chose to utilize the SwimWays Swim Vests from the Swim Steps 2 line instead of the one-piece Swim Shorty.  Before that day, the twins had not been willing to go into the water past their ankles, but these Swim Vests seemed to give them the confidence to go in a little deeper.  These Swim Vests are not life jackets, but rather they help the children to stay afloat more easily during swim training.  I think the twins did surprisingly well for their first time really in the water floating, kicking, and splashing.  Personally, I feel much more comfortable in a pool than in the vast ocean.

Our 7.5 year old son had a bit of swim training this past Spring, but needed to get a feel for the water again.  For him, we used the Swim Steps 3 Power Swimr.  This swim training tool is similar to the Swim Vest except that it is adjustable.  There are layers of foam inside the Power Swimr that can be removed one at a time as your child's confidence and skill grows.

When the swim training was done, it was very easy to remove the swim accessories so that the children could go play in the sand.  The SwimWays Swim Vest and Power Swimr were definitely the right choices for the beach.  Hopefully the children will be able to return once or twice more this summer.  It is unfortunate that this beach is 2 hours away.  You can view more photos from this afternoon at the beach on my personal Facebook page.

Thank you to SwimWays for sending us complimentary product samples to help with our children's swim training.

Beach Photos From a Visit to Grammy's

Last week, my husband made the 2-hour drive with our three children to visit his Mom. After two cancelled trips due to bad weather, they were all finally able to visit Grammy and head to a nearby beach.

Below are some photos and a video shot by my husband. There were plenty more photos of marine life they had managed to dig up, but I thought these were cuter (and less slimy).

After returning to Grammy's house from the beach, the kids had a blast washing off in the backyard with the sprinkler . . . well, all except our daughter, who wanted no part of it.

Here is a short video of the boys enjoying themselves . . .

The children really had tons of fun, but were wiped out and slept almost the whole ride home. Hopefully they will get in one more visit before the summer ends.