I have TWO swimming girls!

I have two swimmers. And I am one proud mommy!!!! Since moving to Burkina and having our own pool Sydaleigh has really become a very strong swimmer. She can now swim almost the length of  the shallow end to the deep end holding her breath, Isaak taught her how to dive, she likes to swim down to the deepest end and touch the bottom, she retrieves dive sticks, does hand stands, swims on her back, and is just a swimming machine!

And three weeks ago Marvelly conquered one of her biggest fears of her young life and has not looked back! For the past five years of her life she has been big time scared...I'm talking death grip around my neck yelling at me, because she does not want to put her face in the water. She is my very cautious girl and while she loves to be in the pool she likes to play it safe always wearing her arm floaties careful never to let her nose touch the water.

But three weeks ago while we were all swimming in the pool as a family, with some encouragement as always, we asked her if she wanted to put her face in the water and then she just all of a sudden did it. She dunked her head under. And then she came up. Realizing that she held her breath and hadn't drowned. And then she did it again, and again, and again....and that was it! She never looked back! I will never forget the thrill she had for herself. The absolute pride she felt for overcoming her fear. She hasn't stopped glowing and smiling over her accomplishment yet. She loves having this new skill. It's like a whole new world has been opened up to her.

And each day in the pool since then she has been getting braver and braver  trying new tricks.

One week later on Saturday evening around 6pm we were all outside sitting around the pool, dipping our toes in while Isaak cleaned it before Easter the next day. The girls had asked if they could go swimming but I said no because they had already swam earlier in the day. But while we were out there I felt like being spontaneous, and despite the fact that the bats are usually up and circling the pool at this hour they were hanging tight in the trees. So I told the Marvelly next to me that if she wanted to go swimming she could take her clothes off and go in her underwear. She was SO excited. She called to Sydaleigh on the other end of the pool, "Sy. da. leigh!! Mommy said we can go swimming in our pan. ties with no clothes on!!"

And so they did. And it was this evening that Marvelly said goodbye to her arm floaties realizing that she could swim better without them. Together my two girls swam and laughed and practiced hand stands and giggled in their delight of doing something spontaneous and silly.

And since this evening swim Marvelly has been swimming like a champ in the pool. She has been hesitant to jump in the water despite the fact that she can hold her breath and swim. Standing at the edge of the pool looking down seems like a great height to her. But yesterday she stood at the edge in the shallow end and did a cannon ball and could not be stopped after that. She has grown in so much self confidence.

As has Sydaleigh. Her body is much stronger and she can hold her breath for longer and swim farther than she could just a few months ago. She loves to race me and swim after me. If I sneak away from their play in the shallow end to do some "laps" Sydaleigh will spring into action after me, racing to catch up. She's getting quite fast that girl. She is fearless. She stands on Isaak's shoulders as he goes down into the water and as he springs up she leaps off flying high into the air back down into the water. She holds onto his neck and together they swim down to the deepest deep end to touch the bottom. She loves the water.

So now I have two swimming girls. It makes my heart happy to know that from learning this skill, it is teaching them to be confident in themselves. To have pride. I love seeing them beam with self confidence. To conquer fears. To try new things. To have fun. And make childhood memories.