swimming: pond-loads better than therapy

Second to ice cream, this is Sophie’s favorite thing.

Spash!

Taking a flying leap into the water is new for Sophie, but quickly becoming the best part of the pond for her.  She leaps in, swims a bit, climbs out, leaps in again.  I remember being about her age when I got into leaping in off the dock into the sound-side waters at the family beach cottage.  Leap in, float down to the next dock, climb out, run around, leap in, float down… my cousin and I used to do this for hours.  Or as long as the adults would let us.  Why is it adults always want to stop swimming before the kids?

Heading back to the ladder….

Ready for another go!

Swimming gets you halfway to happy, just from its innate awesomeness.  We can be stumping down the path to the pond, grumbling, hot, snipping at each other, whining—but five seconds in the water and we’re laughing and having a grand time. Swimming, fooling around in the pond, it seems to wipe the emotional slate clear, resetting it to friendship and joking fun.  As far as I can tell, having an hour or two of playful fun together, every day, is a magic ingredient in creating a happy family.

Woo hoo!

I can’t tell you how much we were laughing, trying to get these photos!

Catching a speeding girl, mid-leap, is not easy.