The Star: November 03, 2016

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Thursday November 3 2016 27
Learning to swim
all part of summer’s fun
I LIKEN my other half
to that of a fish, and our
four daughters, his little
guppies.
He’s amazing in the
Melissa McDonnell
water, and could spend
hours with our girls
frolicking, duck-diving
and generally mucking
about.
While I could save
myself if I had to,
swimming is not my
number one go-to activity.
I am notorious for feeling
the cold and so unless it’s a
scorching day and there’s a
24-plus deg C pool handy,
I’d rather be a sideline
observer.
That said, I was very
keen for my children to
start swimming from
an early age, and have
always viewed lessons as
a compulsory activity, as
opposed to an optional
one. Yes, it is an expensive
exercise putting them all
through lessons, but, it’s
something that is of high
priority and a mainstay in
our budget.
We have trekked to the
pools almost every week
since our eldest was sixmonths-old,
culminating
in us having spent six-anda-half
years worth of lessons
in the water alongside
them. But since the twins
turned three, all that has
changed.
My days of slowly, inching
into the pool (and
scrambling out of it) are
officially over.
No more winter lessons
and wrestling two, sticky
little bodies into suitably
warm clothes (as I myself
stand sodden and regress
into a freezing cold, bluelipped,
teeth-chattering
mess).
The little ones are now
old enough to have solo
lessons with their instructor,
allowing me to support
from the sidelines. And it’s
fair to say, I’m quite happy
about that.
Although initially hesitant
to jump in without us, they
trust and adore their swim
teacher so much that the
transition was pretty easy.
They referred to themselves
as “Big Girls in the
pool” and supported each
other to achieve their little
milestones.
They loved diving off the
side and ducking down
to the bottom, and have
demonstrated a huge leap
in confidence and ability in
only two lessons without us.
And in spite of not having
to get in with them, I
ended up jumping in after
their last lesson and we
had a great play together
(the kids’ pool is heated to
a tolerable 28 deg C, so I
could cope with that). The
weather was warm, the sun
was shining – this was my
kind of swimming.
So as the summer approaches,
I look forward
to our new style of pool
fun. The girls are flourishing
and I look forward
to dipping in with them
when it’s warm enough to
be enjoyable. Winning all
around and looking forward
to a summer of fun at
Jellie Park.
Rangiora Toyota
ON THE DOMAIN
MARCH 4 2017 LINCOLN
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Ideas for pool
complex
flood in
A PIRATE ship, murals or
a flying fox are some of the
things people would like to see
included in a new hot water pool
complex and playground in New
Brighton.
People have been asked to send
in ideas for the city council’s
proposed “legacy project” hot
salt water pool complex and
whale pool playground upgrade.
Submissions are open until
Monday, and as of last week 547
people had sent ideas in.
DCL chief executive Rob Hall
said the response from the local
community has been phenomenal,
with strong support for a
development in the area and a
lot of of ideas about what this
could include.
“We’ve already done some
work on what these developments
could involve for New
Brighton, but it was always
going to be crucial to get public
input into the process before we
pushed ahead.”
People can send in submissions
through the city council
website. A decision on the scope
of the work is expected before
the end of the year, so design of
the project can start in 2017.
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Party in
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2pm Parade
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A&P show day
Garage Sale
Sat 5th Nov, 10am-2pm
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Behind St John Opportunity Shop
Look for advertising signage
the
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sunday 20 th november 2016
open
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silver fox
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Entry fee: $55
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Check-in 8:30am
Shotgun start at 10am
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$30 green fees
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on Saturday 19 th
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Entries close
14 th November
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