Houston...we have water!

So we were four days into swim camp and Ms. Ryan was wanting nothing to do with going under water.  She would blow bubbles and 'bob' up and down....as long as you count the 'down' portion to be her neck, and then apparently she would stop.  I was getting a little anxious that the nice sum of cash we forked over for a two-week swim class was quickly turning into a two-week wading in two feet of water class.  Last night, Grant was out of town so my folks had us over for dinner...afterwards I told Ryan she and I were going to have our own special 'class' up at a local pool.   Off we went (she looks psyched, eh?):
I'm not going to lie, the first 30 minutes of practice were not fun. Lots of tears and hesitation. Countered with lots of hugs, deep breaths, encouragement and a bag of chips. I would hold onto her, she stopped crying for a moment while we counted to three and went under together. It wasn't pretty but we were making headway. We took a break for some chips and switched pools. In the next pool, my goal was to get her to hold hands with me, but go under on her own. That took some coaxing and promise of a soda. After a few tries, she had worked up the courage (or thirst) to give it a try. The hormonal pregnant part of me was near tears, so proud of her for starting to overcome her fear. Off we went for a soda. Sprite of course....we weren't going hardcore here. We had a nice little chat in the snack shack and something there flipped the switch because all of the sudden she was ready to head back in and practice more. From there on out it was cake. We played ring-around-the-rosie, simon says, any game in which going underwater could be part of the fun. She was the ringleader and oh so happy for herself. We played for another hour. I had to beg her to leave.
Meanwhile, back at Grandma and Grandpa's the Reesers was in heaven...
When we got back to my parents, Ryan went into the garage, found a fake flower, walked over and handed it to me saying "thank you mama for teaching me"....Seriously? Seriously? I'm still recomposing myself from that one - the ultimate in parenting moments. And as I tucked her into bed last night she gave me a big hug and said 'I can't wait for swim camp tomorrow'.  And that was the real test....would she remember what she learned and not revert back to being afraid.  I could tell as she rounded the corner that she had done it.  Such a smile across her face and so proud of herself as her teacher told me she was a different person...underwater all morning and attempting to swim - face down in the water.  Of course about .4 seconds after she got in the car she recalled the ultimate of bribes...a chocolate milkshake.  I had been promising it all week.  So off we went to grab one and celebrate:
And she gladly shared with her sister, even though "Reesey, you didn't go underwater but I will share a little anyway":
You can bet your milkshake we will be at the pool this weekend! Have a good one!