The Wagners: VBS and Swim Lessons

The past two weeks have been very busy. Two weeks ago the girls had VBS all week. In the past, I've always helped, but since Coye was still so little, I decided to take this year off. (Plus my friend Jan was in charge and told me that I was not helping this year. :) It was really nice to take the girls to school in the morning and then come home for two hours and just hang out with Coye and try to get a few things done. It was great, but it was hard being out of the house by 8:40 a.m. every morning, especially since we've been used to sleeping in and taking our time getting ready in the morning. The girls had a blast though and really enjoyed it. The VBS was Hometown Nazareth, so they had different "shops" set up in the gym that the kids went to and learned about what things were like back when Jesus was a kid. They also got to wear costumes every day which was pretty cool too. The ladies in charge did a fabulous job and the kids really loved it. My girls came home every day telling me different things they did and what they learned about Jesus. When I asked them what their favorite part was, they said all of it.

After VBS week came a week of swimming lessons. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking scheduling two week long things in a row. In a way it was good that the girls could go somewhere fun following a fun week of VBS, but it was hard having another week of getting up and rushing around in the morning to be to swim lessons by 9:00 a.m. Last year Aubrey took private lessons from a girl named Marissa and had such a great experience that I decided to spend the extra money and do private lessons again for both of them. They each got a half hour lesson. Aubrey would go first and then Chloe would get her turn. They both loved them! Aubrey learned so much this year, it's incredible to think that this is the same girl who two years ago wouldn't even put her face in the water! She can now front and back float by herself. She's better at the front float and will float for almost 15 seconds by herself! She also learned how to glide, which is basically pushing off of the wall with her feet and holding her arms straight by her ears like she's diving, while putting her face in the water and kicking. She does this by herself in our pool too. Marissa also taught her to tread water and Aubrey did this for 15 seconds by herself in the 5 foot part of the pool. She practiced big arms, frog and flutter kicking, backstroke arms, blowing bubbles, and jumping in. She did amazing! Chloe also did great! When we first opened the pool this summer, she was terrified and would cling tightly to whoever was holding her even with her life jacket on. At swim lessons, Marissa worked with her on putting her face in the water and even managed to get her to go under water several times each lesson without Chloe crying. Chloe practiced kicking, blowing bubbles, and moving her arms forward and backward too. Her favorite part was jumping in. I was so pleased with the progress both girls made and hope that Marissa continues to teach swim lessons next year too. She's amazing! I've been having the girls take their life jackets off one at a time in our pool so that we can keep practicing what they've learned. Chloe likes to kick, and we're trying to work on floating but she still doesn't like to put her face in the water even though she doesn't mind too much going underwater. Aubrey yesterday picked up frogs off of the bottom of the pool and even sat down on the bottom. She also jumped off of the ladder, popped herself up, and then swam back to the ladder all by herself. They love swimming and are such fishes, it's great!

Aubrey practicing floating on her back

Aubrey's front float by herself