I can’t say enough good things about our experience. Lucca made huge strides in just one lesson. I appreciated Kathy’s ability to effectively communicate the “why” behind what she was asking my son to do. He’s not a child who is motivated by “because I said so”. Her instruction made sense and she was firm, but patient. After several private sessions ($38 a pop for private lessons, $20 a class each for groups of 2 to 3) Lucca was ready to take one of Kathy’s group classes at the public pool. He absolutely loved it. We will continue with the group classes until Kathy feels he’s ready to take the “swim test’ at the pool and receive his swimming license that will allow him to swim in the deep end of the public pool during open swim sessions. We will continue on with classes at the Aquatic Center after that as well.

FYI – Kathy also teaches adults!She has two kinds of classes. One is for the “new or nervous adult who would like to learn to swim in a safe nurturing environment”, the other is for adults who want to learn to swim more efficiently, learn new strokes, etc. I know a lot of adults who are embarrassed to admit that they don’t swim well…or at all.

Kathy has a terrific web site and blog that should answer all of your questions. You can reach her via http://kathycooperswimming.blogspot.com , her email is islandcoopers@serv.net and her land line is (206) 842-4793.

We saw this little guy sunbathing on the beach!

I spent a wonderful afternoon with my family recently at Point No Point Park in Hansville. I live in Indianola and it’s only a 20 minute drive from my home. The park is about 60 acres and includes a terrific beach, a scenic marsh & woodland hiking trail and the Point No Point Lighthouse. I was astonished to discover that the US Lighthouse Society is now stationed in one half of the Duplex on site, the other half is now available as a vacation rental. For reservations contact Jeff Gales with the US Lighthouse Society at 415-362-7255 or by email at jeff@uslhs.org. The website is http://www.uslhs.org/ The Duplex is approximately $215 per night and there is a minimum 2 night stay on weekends. The park itself is open year round during daylight hours only. Pets are allowed if kept on leashes.

Tours of the historic duplex are from 1:00 to 3:00 pm on Saturdays, April through September. The Lighthouse hours are 12:00 to 4:00 pm on weekends, April through September. Docents are on hand to share information and history with visitors.

While the hike was fun and the beach was beautiful, the highlight of the day was seeing a baby seal sunning itself on the shore. Evidently this isn’t an uncommon occurence. The seal pup’s mom could be seen fishing about 20 yards off shore. Seal mothers leave their babies alone for short periods of time while they hunt. We sat nearby and watched it yawn and snooze. Seal pup birthing season is Late June through September. An interesting site to visit for more information about seal pups in our area is www.sealsitters.org