A Boy Becomes a Swimmer

On Tuesday we decided that no visit to LA was complete without a trip to the beach.  We turned toward Santa Monica and the Annenberg Community Beach House.

This is a remarkable place.  It's like a club open to everyone. It was originally part of the Marion Davies estate.  She was an actress and partner to William Randolph Hearst and gave lavish parties by the side of this marble edged pool.  Eventually the site was acquired by the city and the Annenberg Foundation gave the funds needed to convert it to public use. 

We had a wonderful day.  There was plenty of room to sit in the shade,

and a heated pool with a four foot end for the kids.  

When we began Oliver was still holding on to the pool edge.  Then he began to venture out on his own for a foot or two.

 But as time went on he.gained confidence. By the he time we stopped for lunch he was swimming a few feet at a.time under water before coming up for air.

 After lunch he continued to swim longer stretches until he could do the width of the pool reliably.  Finally when his Grandpa joined him, he was feeling very strong.  Peter took him into the deep end, and by the end of the afternoon he was swimming the width and even diving to the bottom in the deep end.

 

The Beach house pool is on the edge of the beach, so strolling in the surf is a great way to end the afternoon.