The main reason we spent a week in Austin was for Caleb to go through his second summer of lessons with Ms. Pam. He has been so excited and talking about it for months. Caleb did so great and is now swimming and trying to look to the right to get used to taking a breathe. He was so brave, courageous, and did great for one of the youngest in the class.
Here is a picture of Caleb the first day-pure joy and excitement (didn't get a picture of the few tears shed the first couple of days) but by Wednesday he was a "Pro"!!!
Waiting his turn and watching the other kids
Using his big arms to swim to the ladder
Floating on his back and eventually swimming on his back (this is a tough lesson for them)
Almost there...
Success--he made it to the ladder
The kids waiting to jump into the deep end
Caleb did an excellent job and had NO fear jumping in the deep end, turning around and swimming back to the side. WOW-he could not have done that a few days ago. So proud of how far he has come in a short week!
Practicing breathing while "looking" to one side - pretty cute to watch
Doing SO well!
Caleb and his #1 fan!! Davis did great during the hour lesson
Thanks to Papa for entertaining, walking him around, taking him to the park next door, feeding him snacks, keeping him cool, and teaching him how to say "pa-pa". Thanks Dad for all you did to help me out so that I could focus on Caleb! As always, couldn't have done it without you
Davis is in his fun "Papa Shirt"
Mammy came on Friday to cheer Caleb on and also helped with Davis SO much! Thanks Mammy for taking the time, it meant a lot to Caleb that you were there for him. (Mimi came on Monday but didn't get a picture)
Ms. Pam is a great swim teacher, she is firm when the kids want to quit, she is encouraging when they succeed, she is helpful in keeping them focused. What a great week of swimming-Great Job Caleb! We are so proud of you! (Now, if we can just keep practicing this summer and not loose all the work we did, but it is tough to get to the community pool these days).
On a sad note, Tuesday during swim lessons (the day I had to drag Caleb kicking and screaming into swim lessons--yes, I was that mom!) my car was broken into and my purse was stolen!!!! So SO Sad!!!
They broke into the very tinted windows using a crow bar, somehow climbed over Davis' huge car seat, and managed to get my purse that was between the boys seats (I have no idea how they saw it other than, when I was dragging Caleb out of the car). I am still baffled but have learned a HUGE lesson---to not leave my purse in the car (or valuables for that matter).
The Crime Scene Investigator came out an hour later to see if there were any finger prints. (we should know something in a short 2 or 3 months-lovely!)
I can't thank Craig, my dad, and my mom enough!!! First, my dad was there helping with Davis and knew exactly what to do. Secondly, Craig immediately cancelled credit cards, dealt with insurance, dealt with SO many details, and was one step ahead of me ready to tell me what to do next. (In that short hour of swim class, they broke in and managed to use my credit cards at 4-5 convenient stores.)
My car was in the shop getting the window repaired for 2 days, which put a damper on a few of our plans but that was the least of our worries.
Caleb was so sweet while waiting in the hot sun for the police to come...
Davis also did incredibly well, despite it being nap time and him not understanding what exactly was going on. He just wanted to do everything Caleb did.
The Lord really did provide in some strange ways, we had a booster seat in the back of my car from when I was in Colorado Springs and the grandparents were trading off the kids. It just gave them a few more options and fortunately were able to use it because Davis' car seat was covered in glass. Here are the boys in my dad's car (thanks mom for coming to pick us up) and Davis LOVED LOVED LOVED facing forward. He squealed the whole way home! (Someday, Buddy, when you are big enough we will face you forward again).
So, all that being said, it still was a great week in Austin but the whole car situations was not fun at all. Thanks again to so many people helping me out during that tough time! I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.
