Pool time!

While on our cross-country trip, the one thing that saved all of us from cabin fever at the hotels after long days of driving was a pool. It all started after our first day of driving. We pulled into a Best Western and while we were checking in, Riley spotted the pool from the lobby and went nuts! She wanted in so badly! Thus started a tradition of nightly swimming which continues to this day. It's a great way for Riley to get out some pent up energy after eating and a great way for us to tire her out in hopes of an easy time putting her to bed.

What the times in the hotels and the first day here taught us was that Riley was incredibly comfortable being in the water. So we went out and bought Riley a "Poolmaster Learn-To-Swim Tube Trainer." While she looked a little funny when we first put it on her, it was just what she needed in order to gain a little confidence in the water (and to give Cam's tired arms a rest!).

Here's Riley entering in to the water by herself!



What's great about the orange inner tube suit is that it allows us to just let Riley go off in the water without us having to hover. The pool that we have at our complex has a 5' max depth. This lets both Cam and I stand in the deep end (me on tip toes) and still be able to get to Riley quickly if she needs us. Not that we let her go off too far by herself, but we don't have to be right next to her always. In fact, she now can swim to the stairs or the pool's edge by herself. We do often remind her to close her mouth when her face goes in the water, but she is such a natural. I love her little legs kicking and her arms paddling. While we don't have it on video, Riley has referred to this as "paddle dogging." LOL.



One of Riley's favorite things to do now is to spin around and around - the inner tube obviously let's her stay above water - so she has a blast going around and around. In the video that you'll see the same girl from the previous video - she has quickly become Riley's favorite people (notice how Riley just follows her after she jumps in) - she's a nice girl and always has a smile for Riley and comes over to say hi.




We have more really good pool videos to share, but I'll leave that for another post. But here's a hint - Riley's a good jumper!