
Ok, you'll have to forgive me, but this is a Proud Mamma post. Yesterday my 8-year-old finished his summer snorkeling course. As a reward, on the last day the instructor, Raffaele Annese, lets the kids take a tour around the bottom of the swimming pool with the whole oxygen tank getup strapped on. It is the highlight of the summer for my son. Obviously, there's nothing particularly interesting to see at the bottom of the pool, but the thrill is in being able to go down and stay down for quite some time...and to be doing it like a REAL scuba diver.

Raffaele and G. perfecting their underwater hand jive!

Back to the surface, safe and sound! I love that Raffaele gives the kids this opportunity. You have to be at least 12 to get your scuba diving license, so this is as close as G. will get to the real thing for some time. But, that doesn't make him any less enthusiastic. He's already talking about "when I do snorkeling class NEXT summer..."