Swimming

One thing is for certain, our children are part fish. They LOVE the water. So it was high time we had swimming lessons. Angelina started last summer in CA, then continued on here with San Antonio Swim Academy. She has her moments of not wanting to go (really, she just doesn't like being *taught*), but her current teacher, Mr. Ryan, is excellent. This past year she's learned to do a lot in the water and is really confident now. I still don't trust her to swim alone without a life jacket in the river or a lake, but she can swim in a pool pretty well!


Lenaïc also started lessons in January. He loves it, except when he has to go on his back. Months later he still hates that. His favourite game is throwing the toy and swimming towards it (with Mommy's help). he loves this so much he tries to do it whenever he sees water, even if he's not swimming. We've had to miss a few classes lately due to illnesses (mine and his), but hopefully next week we'll be back on track.

Today, Frédéric was home early so he decided to join us. Angelina loved showing off her technique and we finally have some PICTURES.

A Day at the Beach

Or not....

It's been COLD here in Texas. Really cold. Ok, so not as cold as it is in the frigid north, but it FEELS colder. We've dipped down below freezing quite a bit and even into the teens F the other night. For Texas, even in January, that's REALLY COLD. We tolerate the 80+ days over 100F in summer because we have 80F days in January. Not so this winter. After the hottest driest summer, we're aiming for the coldest winter. Have I said I don't like the cold? It's especially bad in our old drafty house. Oh, it's warm in the top 2 feet of the room, thanks to our wonderful high ceilings, but down below.....

Angelina doesn't appear to know that though. The other day Frédéric showed Angelina some pictures from our Mexico trip. Before I knew it she'd pulled ALL of her swim gear out, was running around the house naked carrying her (many) swimsuits yelling "We're going to the beach! We're going to the beach!"

I explained the beach was far away and it was cold....to no avail. I finally convinced her we'd go to the pool (indoor pool at the YMCA), except they didn't open for a few more hours. It was not easy to contain her that long, but we did and managed to go to the pool and swim for awhile. However, the water was very cold that day (normally it's almost too warm). Felt like the Pacific Ocean in California in winter. That didn't deter her though. She wouldn't leave. It wasn't til her lips were turning blue and she was shivering so hard she could barely move I finally convinced her to get out of the pool....