Memory Card Error

Today was the last day of our third session of swimming lessons.  I've had all three boys in classes, which has kept me pretty busy getting them ready and out the door, keeping sunscreen on them, getting them in the pool at the right times, keeping track of the ones not in the pool at any given time, keeping suits, towels, and goggles ready, withstanding the heat, trying not to interfere with the teacher ("but maybe if I got whisper something to them, I can convince them to try it..."), getting them dressed after their lessons, convincing them to leave the pool area, etc, etc.

For all of the above reasons, I decided not to take my camera to swimming lessons until the last day.  We were hoping Chris would come watch, but he had a meeting he couldn't get out of, so I reassured the kids that I would take plenty of pictures and videos on the last day, and Daddy would love seeing it all.

Taking photos while trying to keep everyone in the right place and not interfere with the classes proved to be pretty difficult, but worth it.  Until halfway through the morning, when my camera shut off suddenly.  I turned it back on to see the message, "memory card error."  I tried viewing the photos, only to see the message, "no files."  All the pictures and videos were gone, and I couldn't take any new ones either!

Had my memory card come through for me, here is what we would have shown to Daddy...

• David (2) has no problem going underwater when he jumps into someone's arms, or is pulled across in a floating position, but mostly just loves to stand on the steps, reach down for pool toys, and blow bubbles.
• Michael (3) overcame a lot of fear/negative attitude during his first session.  During his second session, he got very brave and started going underwater more.  By the end of the third session, nobody can keep track of him, because he wants to be underwater, wiggling around, kicking, floating, picking things up off the pool floor, exploring, sitting on the bottom, etc.  Today he jumped off the diving board  and went down the pool slide (with the teacher getting him after he landed on his own).
• Tommy (6) has become a little fish.  By the end of last summer he was just getting comfortable swimming on his own, but couldn't take breaths or swim alone in the deep end.  Once he spent the first session getting warmed up, he took off and can now swim above or under water, swim the length of the pool, do somersaults underwater, jump off the board or slide without anyone in the deep end to catch him.  He loves to make up tricky ways to jump in, work on improving his strokes, and play games like finding hidden pool toys.

It's too bad we lost all the proof we were going to show Chris, but fortunately we have a pool in our complex, so we can reschedule a little show-and-tell of our own.  And the teacher gave out treats today, so all was well in the end.