"I wasn't going to let go of Will's hand. No matter what!"

Well...homeschooling...a little neglected, but boy did we have a fun, swimming day! :) Everyone was up around 6-7a.m. to get school finished early, so we could head over to Elinor's hotel and go swimming. Amine came at exactly 9:30a.m. for our French lesson--we are working on the feminine and masculine articles for all nouns in French. This concept was a little difficult for the kids and it was so funny, because Amine kept saying muscular instead of masculine, so the kids were getting a pretty weird picture in their mind until I helped get things straightened out. It was pretty hilarious to watch their faces as he would describe things as muscular or feminine. Not everything was completed after French, but we took off anyway because I knew Elinor would be waiting for us.

We headed over to the "main street" of the marina where we live and had to take 2 taxis. Each taxi will only carry 3 people; so Robby, Will and I went in the first taxi and Vanessa, Mitchell & Reggie went in the second taxi. The little boys loved their first ride in the taxi, but we had a very non-talkative driver, so I think they may have driven him crazy with their non-stop questions and comments about everything in and out of the taxi. It was pretty cute.

As soon as we drove up and I paid the taxi's 20 dirham each, there was Elinor sitting in the front chairs waiting for us. The hotel, unfortunately has not been very friendly or helpful. We are all quite disappointed that Barry and Elinor's stay has not been more pleasant here. The employees are not, shall we say, the most friendly staff on the planet. They question, thoroughly, everyone who walks onto their property and were freaking out about all of us being with Elinor until I told them that we were going to pay to be there. Sadly, they charged 250 dirhams for the kids and 500 dirhams for me! This is an outrageous price! That was for swimming, lunch, drinks and a snack. We had such a fun day, it was worth it.

Lunch wasn't being served yet, so the boys went directly for the pool. They had an absolute blast in the 3 huge, beautiful pools here--one was really quite warm and there was even a toddler pool with was 60 cm deep, which the little boys loved. The pool had boogie boards that they could use and these were a huge hit! The boys swam and swam for about an hour. Then we went up and had lunch. It wasn't the most tasty, but the kids loved the bread and ice cream, so they were happy.

Although the boogie boards were a huge hit, unfortunately, they were also the cause of our near tragedy. Will was near the side of the warmest, large pool, swimming on the boogie board. He turned and started going out toward the center of the pool. Robby decided that he wanted to be on the boogie board too and swam out to Will. Vanessa, Elinor and I were sitting in lawn chairs on the side of the pool--I called to Robby and told him not to be on the board with Will, because it could make him tip over. Robby responded by telling me that they were on their way over to come get more sunscreen on. I figured that was ok. Seconds later, whoosh...there went the boogie board and both boys sunk like rocks and then came bobbing up. It felt like it took forever for my mind to accept what I was seeing. The second time they came up, I squealed and ran for the pool. They were about 20-25 feet from me. The lifeguard, sitting fully clothed, was about 10 feet in front of me and I ran past him and jumped in the pool to reach Will and Rob. The first thing I remember thinking was that I thought I would be able to touch bottom when I jumped in, but I was unable to and that shocked me. I thought I would grab them and then walk to the side, but I was having to swim hard and I had not touched the bottom yet. The second thing that I remember thinking was why hadn't I dove into the pool instead of jumping--weird to be able to think of these things along with rescue my children and do what I knew had to be done. Elinor told me later, that she had been talking to me and all of the sudden I was gone. She didn't even see me run over or jump into the pool. The first thing she saw was the lifeguard jumping in. That's when she realized that there was a problem.

I reached my boys and shoved them up out of the water and right behind me was the lifeguard--his hat, glasses, pants and shirt all on. I was so glad to see him! The lifeguard took Will and started for the side. Robby was gasping for air and was pulling on the guard, so I pulled him off of the guard and swam with him to the side of the pool which was about 6 feet away. We all climbed out. The other lifeguards came running over with towels for the boys. They made Will lie down on his side like they were going to push water out or something, but he was talking, so I knew that he was ok. The guards just kept saying, "No problem...he's ok...no problem...no problem." I think they were reassuring themselves as much as they were reassuring me. I was shaking with adrenaline and fear and shock. I held Robby on my lap while the guards were talking with Will. Then I moved over and put Will's head in my lap. Robby decided that the excitement was over and jumped right back into the pool. The poor lifeguard about had a fit and pulled Robby by the arm, right back out again. He scolded Robby in French and gave him to me. I helped Will stand up and we walked back to the lounge chairs. After about 5 feet, Will burped two loud burps and declared that he felt all better now--he just needed to burp! It was so cute.

I had them sit on my lap for a few minutes. I asked Robby why he hadn't swam for the side or flipped over onto his back like we'd practiced in the pool and he told me that he wasn't going to leave Will. He had held onto Will's hand until I had gotten there! Then he said the cutest thing, "I wasn't going to let go of Will's hand--no matter what!" My eyes filled with tears. I was so proud of him. I wish what he had done would have had helpful assistance, but the idea that he was not going to leave Will, no matter what, filled my heart with extreme gratitude and love for these wonderful boys.

I was a little concerned that they would become fearful of the water, so I walked with them over to the 60cm pool (it's as deep as Will's waist) and let them swim for a while. They then wanted to get back into the big pool. The poor lifeguard came back about then. He just shook his head when he saw Rob and Will back in the pool. I know that he wanted to shoot me, but I didn't want them afraid of the water. I stayed close by them the rest of the time, for my peace of mind as well as for the lifeguards'. I know that the lifeguard wished I had arm floaters for their arms, but I didn't, so I just stayed really close to them.

We went up for a "crepe snack" at the little restaurant by the pool at about 4:45p.m. and then swam until 6p.m. Everyone, reluctantly, dried off and went into Elinor's room to change. Will has lost his DS. He thought he had left it in Elinor's hotel room on the first night that they came here, but we can't find it anywhere. We went up to the reception desk, to the restaurant, etc., but no one has seen it or had it turned in. I can't imagine how we are going to travel for the rest of our time here. The DS systems are real life savers and I'm so sad that it's gone. We're going to keep looking and hopefully, it will show up.

Jason and Barry came about the time we were done looking for the DS. We went home, had dinner, stories and some family time and then got everyone in bed. The boys were out cold, minutes after laying their heads down! I love swimming for this fact alone!