Diving In!

Ella has really come a long way with her swimming this summer.  A year ago she didn't even like to put her face in the water.  This spring when we went to The Great Wolf Lodge she was getting more adventurous with getting her face wet and didn't like having to wear her life jacket (her turtle) so we decided that we would sign her up for swim lessons this summer.  She took two weeks of private lessons at the beginning of the summer and made some great progress.  All summer she has been practicing and has become pretty good at getting herself around in the water. 
Lately, she had been talking about wanting to go off the diving board.  At our pool you are supposed to swim a length of the pool before going off the board.  She could probably swim a length but hasn't really wanted to try.  When we went to Highland this last week we spent an afternoon at the pool there while the boys were golfing.  The board is very close to the ladder and she had gone off that board before with her life jacket (they don't let you do that at our new pool).  She decided she wanted to give jumping in with no jacket a try.  She was awesome she came up and swam to the side like a pro.  Then it was over and over again for the next hour with me having her take little breaks every once in a while so she didn't get tired.  She was so proud of herself and proud to show off her skill to John, Sam and Hannah! 

Ella and Hannah doing some stunts in the pool!