halloween fest

The family Y where Kyalo and I go for swimming hosted a harvest festival a couple of weeks ago - opening up all areas of the Y for members to come and play.  Costumes were recommended.  I was excited for Dexter to have a chance to finally see Kyalo swimming, and for us to do a fun and different activity together.  I was sure Kyalo would love showing off all his skills to Papa.

One problem: he gets totally overwhelmed/shy in big crowds, and this was a night of big crowds, loud kids, lots of movement, etc.  He spent a lot of time just standing and observing in the beginning.  Since I couldn't get him to relax in the gym, we decided to take him up to the art classrooms, figuring they'd be a little calmer.

I was right. And Kyalo L O V E D it.

 focused

Making an apple basket, which involved painting with apple halves and gluing pieces of paper down in a weave fashion to make a basket.  He filled that paper to capacity.  It was hard to drag him away.  

the giraffe, hard at work

After painting, we tried to get him to go to a music class or dance party, but he wasn't interested in those.  We did manage to get him to go to the 'pumpkin patch' maze thing.

And after that he'd relaxed enough to try the over-crowded gym rooms again.  This time he hopped on a bike and was good to go!

After all these activities, it was time for our turn in the pool.  Kyalo's really been flourishing in swimming lately, getting much more comfortable and confident in the pool. We took a break over the summer, and when we came back in September he's taken off - jumping into the pool unprompted, getting better at kicking, etc.  The Y thinks kids can swim independently -- and with out floaties -- by 3 or so.  I think if we stick with it, Kyalo could be there!

showing off floating skills - pretty impressive since this often freaks him out

But the best part about swimming is jumping into the pool! I tried hard to get some action shots of that, which was basically a fail.  Here's the best I could do. 

pleased

As you can see, he enjoys himself immensely.  The Y has been such a wonderful investment for us, and I'm already thinking how much I will miss this Y when we move from here next year.  Sure, there are other YMCAs around the country, but this is a 'family' Y, geared mostly to children.  It has been perfect for us.

I don't get too many pictures of myself with Kyalo, so wanted to share this one of my handsome little giraffe and me.  

Swimming was our last activity, so we collected our things and went home. . .and Kyalo slept til 8:30 Sunday morning.  Wins all around!!