We have a whole week behind us on swimming lessons and just starting the second with one more to go. I can see a world of improvement, especially with Graysen. I'm not a judge of good or bad form, but she is going from one side of the pool and back and looking like she's supposed to.
Last week, they had classes with at least 5 other kids. I'm not sure what they could actually learn in 30 minutes that way, but they did get a little more confidence in themselves.
Last week was hard on me, because we had so far to walk, and this "condition" of mine with the weak muscles and aching back made walking agonizing. Once we got there, we can hardly fit ourselves on the bleachers because of the number of parents and other kids - half of them wet. The air was so hard to breathe, and my camera fogged up immediately. Then when we left, the girls were wet and cold, and I was ready to get off my feet.
This week, private lessons start at 9:10, and since it's earlier we had our choice of parking places in the little swimming parking lot. Nice bonus. Also when I went out the door, there was just one person on all the bleachers, so I sat where I wanted and didn't get wet or too warm.
They like their teacher a lot. He has just the two of them, and they are doing whatever he tells them with a lot more energy and confidence.
When we get home, Graysen takes a shower, and they both put all the wet things in the laundry room so I can dry them. I love that they're so much help. They want to earn tickets to trade in for money so they can buy a Calico Critters piece - a treehouse or something.
Yesterday, after reluctant math practice, Katherine mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors, and Graysen swept the front porch.
The most fun was the simplest - trimming the hedges - those straggly little sick boxwoods that insist on coming back and pretending to be a hedge. Looks like we won't be getting any landscaping done this year. They started off trimming some barberry (I think) bushes along the walk beside the apartment. They have sharp thorns and will stick in any part of your body that gets near. They, along with Carly, our neighbor, did a pretty good job but got too fond of it. I had to take their scissors away finally! I was never sure it was safe enough for them, although they're 8, 9, and 10. I had them cutting on different bushes so there was no chance of cutting each other but I was still nervous until they were done.
A few more pictures.
Reading in the backyard at home.
An art class at the Snoqualmie Library. A little too crowded to really enjoy and not the right paper for transferring the design so that it tore and wrinkled coming out of the water. But they learned a new concept and enjoyed doing it.
More reading
I love so much having the girls over every weekday. They teach me so much and make me laugh a lot. They are vegetarian and parents vegan, and I'm getting more and more familiar with what they want to eat and what they don't. No more corn dogs and hamburgers, although Burger King does have an Impossible Burger that we all like. I needed to cook some chicken yesterday and apologized for cooking it so they could smell it. Katherine said, "I just feel sorry for that chicken."
They did a dinner theater for me yesterday where they served snacks and reserved me a seat and did interpretive dancing to four songs. I love their imaginations.
I believe the last one was Romeo and Juliet, some version. They found a piece of navy fabric with stars in my sewing room and used that for the backdrop and used a flashlight for the lighting. It kept them busy for a long time, and I love to hear them laughing and chattering and sometimes fussing over their productions.
I wish I were younger and in better shape. I've started taking some Advil for my painful left knee and using ice packs for my back.. It has made a big difference. I still can't stand or walk any amount of time, but at least I'm not in pain, and I think I've worked on my sleeping schedule to be more like a normal person. I'll be back bugging my doctor on August 1st to see if she has any new ideas.
Meanwhile, I'll try to leave early enough on swim mornings to get a close parking place and keep the ice packs ready..
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