Courtney's 1st swimming lessons

Since this is the first summer that Courtney has neither had a trach nor had the trach hole open, we setup swimming lessons for her at a local swimming pool. The daughter of one of our friends from church has worked with special needs children before and worked very well with Courtney. Her first lesson was on Monday, June 9th. They lasted for about 45 minutes to an hour for 5 days.

Since we were leaving for the lake on the 16th, we wanted to make sure we got her used to the swimming pool and using a life jacket so that she could get into the lake by herself and know what to expect. Her last lesson was cancelled twice due to rain and she didn't actually take it until the morning of the 16th before we left for the lake.

Molly did a great job preparing Courtney for the waves in the lake and how to get water out of her mouth if she got any in it. She also worked with her on going under water in the pool, treading water, and the beginnings of how to use her arms to cup and pull water. We still have a long way to go, but WOW what a long way she has come thus far.

Here are a few pictures from her swim lessons:

HUMC Basketball Camp

Both girls participated in the HUMC basketball camp the week of June 2nd. Courtney participated as a camper and Kelsey was a student coach helping Coach Jim instruct about 90 campers. The camp lasted from 8:30 until 3:30 each day and they performed for all of the parents and special guests on Friday to show what they had learned.

During the week, they learned basic ball handling skills, shooting technique, played team games, played dribble tag, and had special drills for dribbling and shooting. Courtney had a really good time and has improved tremendously over the last several years. She has been going to the camp for the last 3 or 4 years (about the same time Kelsey started helping with the coaching).

Here are a couple of pictures from the camp (Courtney with Coach Jim and Courtney during one of her ball-handling drills):

Courtney is already looking forward to playing Upward basketball next January. She missed it last year due to recovering from her heart surgery.