Monday, June 23, 2008

Goin' Swimmin'


Last year Thomas and I took a swim class especially for moms and babies at the Provo Recreation Center with a bunch of other moms from our ward. It was so fun, I definitely wanted to do it again this year! A couple months ago, before we moved, I started looking into finding the nearest pool to Saratoga Springs that offered classes. Through a friends' blog I found out about the Lehi Legacy Center...it is the coolest place! They have all kinds of programs, camps and classes. The building has 3 gyms, an indoor track, a weight-room, cardio-room, rock-climbing wall, a daycare, and the Aquatics Center is awesome. The pools are open year-round and they have a sliding glass ceiling and walls they can open or close depending on the weather. Inside there's a big waterslide, a leisure pool, lap pool, hot tub, lazy river, a really cute "waterslide baby mountain" and this huge, cool fort with a giant bucket drop! The lazy river also goes outside where they have a kiddie pool and a bunch of picnic tables and lounge chairs.

I was so excited to discover the Legacy Center! I signed Thomas and I up for a Mom & Tot swim class that started at 10 am, the perfect time to give me a chance to get out the door and to get back for Thomas' naptime. So, every weekday from June 2nd-June 12th Thomas and I went swimmin'. We loved it! The class was pretty loosely structured--we played games and sang songs, just teaching the kids to be comfortable in the water at first, and then tried to teach them basic things like kicking, "scooping" or paddling, blowing bubbles, swimming on their tummies and laying on their back. We held our kids while doing all of this of course, we weren't expecting them to truly learn to swim by themselves. Thomas was cute though, because he was often impatient to get to the play areas or wherever he wanted to go, and he would start kicking and struggling to get out of my arms, like he was trying to swim there himself! Funny little fish. Last year he took to the water really well, and this year he was even more into it! One of his favorite things to do was climb out of the pool on his own (with me there spotting him) and then jump off the edge into my arms. He wanted to do it over and over again!

Our teacher/lifeguard Kallie was so nice and was the mom of a toddler herself. One of the things she challenged us to do was to work up to a point where we could dunk our child (quickly) all the way under the water. I did this with Thomas in our class last year and he did really well at about 10 months old. So at the end of the first day of our class I tried it again and dunked Thomas all the way under, and he did great! He came up spluttering a bit but didn't cry at all. The great thing about this year is that I can explain to him what's going to happen and he really understands...I could tell him that I would count to three and then put him under the water, and that he needed to shut his eyes and blow his bubbles. The teacher also told us to blow in the kids' faces right before we put them under, because it would make them close their eyes and (supposedly) hold their breath. Pretty much all the kids in the class got good at being dunked. Sometimes Thomas even started getting excited about it, probably because of all the praise he got afterward!

The class was so fun and even though it was a little hard to have to load Thomas in the car and go somewhere every single weekday morning for two weeks straight, I was really sad when it ended. The Legacy Center opens to the public in the afternoon, and Thomas and I have gone once since our class ended. It is so much more crowded during public hours and was a little overwhelming to both of us at first. During our class there were very limited numbers of people in the pool and we got used to having a lot of swimming space to ourselves! =) But we'll definitely be making many more trips there this summer. Our subdivision is building a brand new clubhouse that is supposed to have a pool, and I wish they would hurry and finish so I didn't have to drive 15-20 minutes to go swimming!

The very last day of class I decided to risk the life of my digital camera and bring it into the pool to get some pictures of my cute water baby. Thankfully I managed to get a few good shots without dropping my camera in the water and ruining it!

7 comments:

Erika said...

Oh I loved the Lehi Legacy Center!! We went there a bit when we lived with my parents. I loved putting my baby in the bucket seats. She was sooo little! Sounds like you had a great time!

S&J Jones Family said...

James loves to swim, I need to get him some lessons! That looks like a fun place you went!

Gertsch Family said...

What a cool place. It's good that you are starting the swimming thing early.

Stacy and Matthew said...

Sounds like you guys had fun. I can't believe how big Thomas is getting!

Karen said...

Wow that is an awesome place! I'm so glad that he loves the water! Madisynn does ok, if it is her idea. McKenzie has gotten so much better, she will at least put her face in the water, but she won't let you dunk her. I need to get my girls in swim lessons. I'm so impressed Darci! You are a wonderful MOM!!!

Hannah said...

How cool! Way to be brave dunking Thomas. I still haven't dunked Erica and she's 2 1/2. I'm such a chicken!

Nicole said...

ok-I'm sorry about how random this will seem...but in trying to track down some old acquaintances from BYU we ran across your blog. They left a comment here some time ago, but we aren't able to access their profile. If you are still in touch with matt and stacie pabst, please tell them we'd love to connect! Thanks so much! The Pasquinis (yeah, they probably wouldn't forget that name)