Brave swimmer

We had a lot of fun last night. The Hemmer family invited us to swim in their pool last night and we brought along a couple pizzas for dinner. It was so nice to hang out and just have fun. We went to Dennis and Selena's house when Dave had wrapped up all his work activity and we all enjoyed the pizza. Calvin even sat at the "little kid's" table and did alright. I had to make him sit down and eat about four times, but I think he ate something. We changed into our suits and walked over to the pool at Dennis' parent's house (right across the yard) and swam for about an hour or so. I thought for sure I'd have to hold onto Violet the whole time. In past swimming experiences this summer she has clung to mom or dad pretty tightly - even with a life jacket on. I think Ivy inspired confidence in her. Ivy jumped right in and started floating with the help of her arm floaties. Violet must have seen how easy that was and immediately told me "DON'T hang on to me!" and she let herself go off the step into the water and float. I think she was so excited, she couldn't stop giggling at the new feeling of floating by herself with the help of her life jacket and nobody helping her. She figured out how to move around in the water by moving her arms and legs. She had a blast - she swam all over. She saw the slide and asked to go down the slide. I wasn't about to tell her that she would go under water when she hit the water so she went ahead (I "caught" her) and she loved it. She didn't even fuss about going under water and getting her eyes wet. I think she went down the slide 4 or 5 more times. She must have inspired a little confidence in Ivy, too. Ivy wanted to go down the slide, too, and she went a couple times, a little scared the first time but much more confident the second. I think Evan even floated himself with his floaties. Calvin however, did not have so much fun. He pretty much stuck his feet in the water and played on the steps, but when we got him in the water deeper, he freaked out and cried. He didn't even like floating with the help of a blow up floaty designed for kids his size. Oh well. Dave, Dennis and I got goofy with tricks off the diving board. It soon got very dark and buggy so we closed up the pool and went back to their house to dry off and get dressed. We promised to do this again next summer, but we won't wait til September. :) Even though she dropped a plate on her toe after dinner and smashed it, she didn't let that little injury prevent her from having fun.