Swimming lesson sign-ups in Salmon were the 2nd to the last day of school in May. Sign-ups are always in May, but this year they were especially late. It had been a crazy day at school with Kindergarten Graduation, and end-of-year activities, and I was a little stressed. The sign-ups were at 5:00, but I've done this enough years to know that you need to be early if you want to get in the right session/class. So, I made plans for my boys to go home after school and to be picked up from the babysitter's house. I went to City Hall alone at 3:30, and I was the 2nd person in line. I waited an hour and a half before they opened the doors to let people in to sign-up.
This year, it was even more disorganized than usual. They didn't hand out forms to any of us who were waiting so that we could already have the information written down. They told us as soon as we walked in the door (after they were opened at 5:00) that we were to fill out the forms then get in line for the different classes. Last year, they had the lines in the sign-up room divided into sessions, which makes much more sense because most people try to put their multiple kids in classes that are in the same session. I was mortified to find out that they had changed it back to the old way of signing up by classes instead of sessions. So, after waiting an hour and a half, and finding out that I would have to stop and pick up the papers after they opened the doors, and then try and get in two different lines for my 3 kids, I had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe and I felt light-headed and I thought I was going to pass out. It was the second public panic attack I'd had in 2 weeks, and I was so humiliated.
I am not alone in hating the way that the City of Salmon does their swimming lesson sign-ups. It feels like Black Friday sales at Walmart--where everyone is crowded around an item, waiting for the right time to start grabbing and pushing to get what they want. As soon as the City opened the doors to let us in, it was mass chaos. I grabbed the forms, went to one line, and then had to wait in another line. Each swimming lesson class only allows 5 students in it, and there was only one session the entire summer that the 3 younger boys could all have a class at the same time. It was also the only session that we would be at home for the entire two weeks--each of the 3 other sessions had scheduling conflicts with our family's summer schedule. It was imperative that all 3 boys made it into the classes during the 1st session. I went to the line for the twins first, because I knew that fitting 2 boys into one class would be the higher priority. By the time I signed them up, and had to wait in line for Kanyon's class, he was the 4th of 5 students signed up. I was relieved they all made it into the necessary session and class, but I was upset that I had to be put through this stressful process so close to the end of school.
The first session of swimming lessons was June 17 - June 27. They have 45-minute lessons 4 days a week for two weeks, and their class times began at 9:15. We've never been in the 1st session before, and we've also never done the earliest time--we usually have lessons in the 10 or 11:00 hour. The weather was cold & rainy during most of their lesson days, and they always came out of the water freezing. There were a few days that it was sunny & warm, and those are the days I tried to get pictures of the boys swimming.
Jonah and Micah were in Level 4 this year, and had a really nice teacher, Ashley. There were 6 kids in their class: 3 boys and 3 girls. Their friend Erik was the other boy in their class, and they were glad about that. They spent a majority of their time in the deep end practicing treading water, multiple swim strokes, and diving. They are both really good swimmers and I liked watching them improve!
Kanyon repeated Level 2 again this year, which is mostly in the shallow end. There were 5 kids in his class, and his teacher was Melisa. She is so awesome and fun and we love her! Her helper was Tim, and Kanyon knew him from being an aid in Kindergarten, so he was happy to have Tim as an instructor, too. He listened to his teachers and tried his best and he did so well this year and passed off all the requirements, so he will be moving up to Level 3 next year. I am so proud of him!
At the beginning of the 2nd week of swimming lessons, we couldn't find Kanyon's turquoise dolphin-shaped goggles anywhere. He needs his goggles to swim, otherwise he spends the entire time wiping his eyes and he refuses to put his head under water because of that reason. He borrowed one of the twins' goggles that morning, and I ran to the store down the street to get another pair of goggles for him, but they only had toddler-size ones in stock. I came back to the pool, and looked in their lost & found, hoping to find them, but instead I came across another treasure: Kanyon's glasses. We hadn't been able to find them for about 2 weeks. We'd cleaned his room, and looked all over the house but they hadn't surfaced anywhere. The first week that the swimming pool was open, I took the boys swimming, and apparently he'd taken his glasses with him and left them there. I never would've thought to look at the pool for his glasses, so it was a huge blessing to have found his glasses when I was looking for his {much cheaper} goggles. The next day, I found his goggles in the soccer bag (I have no idea why they were THERE!), but it all worked out and I felt so grateful to have recovered his glasses and his goggles!
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