Saturday Mornings Are For Learning!

Before swimming, ready to go

 Fans, if you would like to get yourself up and going, what you should do is schedule some swimming lessons for eight bells.  That's what we did, and, well, it's gonna be awesome all fall long.*  When one begins to be interested in swimming lessons for one's tot up here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, one quickly learns that the gold standard is Foss--The Foss Swim School.  Now that we have been to one lesson, we get it.  Hence, the 8am lesson--classes are small and returning families register first, so the more reasonable times of 9am and 9:30am are not readily available to new families.

Foss runs a pretty slick operation.  There's a pool divided into nine sections and multiple, small classes of different levels go on at once.  It seems like it would be distracting, but the teachers in each section seem to move at such a quick clip and do goofy things like get a high five that (naturally) sends them reeling back into the water, that the kids don't really have time to be distracted.

Joe is in the "Littles 1" class with just two other kids.  His teacher's name is Jeanine.  From what Julie and Clara could tell from the observation room, the focus of the first lesson was kicking.  Joe was super into the kicking business.  Splashes abounded.  Teacher Jeanine also floated with each kid around the class's section twice.  Julie could see Joe's leg relax the second time around.

Poolside

The lesson is half an hour so before we knew it, it was over.  Birdie's Beasts class at The Little Gym is at nine, and Joe decided that he wanted to watch Clara like Clara had watched him.  He's like the big man on campus at The Little Gym.  He saw Teacher Kayla on the way in who hadn't realized Clara was his sister, and couldn't believe that he is four.  (Joe was in her class when he was two.)  The boys didn't stay for the whole 50 minute class, and Clara was a little sad when she discovered that they were gone, but she rallied for all the Little Gym fun.

Here are Birdie and Julie getting ready to sing the Beasts welcome song.  If Julie tries to shake the maraca before the song has begun, Clara will turn to her and say, "No!  Not yet!" 

*As Julie was typing this post, here is what she heard from downstairs: "Oh, Clara!  What are you doing?  Did you put Gorilla in the bowl?!  Now he's got flour all over him.  Don't put Gorilla in my batter."  This was met with laughter.