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Saturday, May 5, 2012

"I Will Drown ... And Then I Will Die!"

In April, we were able to take some time off work during spring break to go to our favorite destination, Sanibel Island, Florida.  Airfare was extremely expensive (for 6 people) so with lots of encouragement from family (Karla!) and friends (Kelly!), we drove - for 31 straight hours.  The kids did great - but Jay and I ... not so great after 31 hours.

The kids woke up after a restful 8-9 hours slumber and said, "Have you been driving all night?!?!?!" 

"Yes!"

We won't be doing that again anytime soon.

One of the memorable moments from this year's trip is that Wesley (who just turned 6) learned how to swim - and it took him all of about 5 minutes.

Until learning to swim, he never had to worry about sinking because he always wore a life-jacket around water.  


At dinner, I told him, "Tomorrow, daddy is going to teach you how to swim!", expecting that he would be excited.

Instead - Tears!



"What's wrong?", I asked him. 

"If I don't have my life-jacket, I will drown and then I will die."

"Daddy would never let you drown," and then I explained how Jay used to be a lifeguard and had taught lots of kids how to swim.  Wesley wasn't convinced.

But - the next morning, we started with the kick-boards.



He gained confidence quickly and turned it into a competition with his sister.


A minute or two later, he left the kick-board behind and swam across the pool to daddy and his brother.







Then he was swimming underwater - and trying to dive and retrieve torpedos from the bottom.  We paused and reminded him that it was necessary to breathe occasionally - and that he could not do that underwater!



Shortly after that, he was diving and cannon-balling with the rest of the kids.





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