Today we managed to get to the neighborhood pool for the first time since it opened. We had been meaning to go for some time, but had been hampered by being extremely busy with end of school stuff, or by it being 55 degrees and raining.
We got to the pool as soon as we finished picking up Eleanor from school. Since we had to stop for gas, it was about 3:30 or so. Then between kid wrangling and equipment wrangling, it was 3:40 or so before we walked up to the door. Unfortunately, there was a sign posted above the door saying "Pool Closed". (The sign wasn't visible from the road, or we wouldn't have gotten out of the car.) Fortunately the lifeguards came to the door and told us that the pool didn't open for 20 minutes. I correctly estimated that this would be the amount of time we would spend getting ready, so they let us in.
We got ready and went to the pool. We didn't get in right away: it really was cold, and there was too much else to do. The girls needed to "sunbathe," something I am sure they learned from their 6th grade babysitter last year. Before you tell me about the evils of sun exposure, let me explain what they mean by sunbathing. They spread their towels out on a chaise or the ground (Eleanor helps Amanda, which is nice), lie down on the towel, and wrap themselves up almost completely, with just their eyes and nose showing (it's cold, after all...)
Amanda paddled around happily with a noodle, only partially submerging herself a few times. Her biggest problem was that she wanted to talk or laugh while paddling, so she got quite a few mouthfuls of pool water. "I know how to swim!" she told everyone happily. The 5 year old wasn't much impressed with the claim, but her 8 year old older brother humored her. Eleanor found a friend (as usual) and played some sort of diving game, the exact nature of which escaped me. Her biggest problem was that she kept wanting to splash people, which did not incline them to spend time with her.
Luke is going to be the biggest problem at the pool this year. He's like a loose cannonball, running around excitedly and always in danger of falling in. Hopefully we can get Amanda swimming more responsibly, and I'll be able to concentrate most of my energy on Luke. The funny thing is that most of the time he is content to stand on the steps of the pool, emptying the pool one toy watering can at a time. But at any moment, he'll get up and start running for the edge of the deep end---only 4.5 feet, but it may as well be 10 as far as Luke is concerned. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate them!
We got to the pool as soon as we finished picking up Eleanor from school. Since we had to stop for gas, it was about 3:30 or so. Then between kid wrangling and equipment wrangling, it was 3:40 or so before we walked up to the door. Unfortunately, there was a sign posted above the door saying "Pool Closed". (The sign wasn't visible from the road, or we wouldn't have gotten out of the car.) Fortunately the lifeguards came to the door and told us that the pool didn't open for 20 minutes. I correctly estimated that this would be the amount of time we would spend getting ready, so they let us in.
We got ready and went to the pool. We didn't get in right away: it really was cold, and there was too much else to do. The girls needed to "sunbathe," something I am sure they learned from their 6th grade babysitter last year. Before you tell me about the evils of sun exposure, let me explain what they mean by sunbathing. They spread their towels out on a chaise or the ground (Eleanor helps Amanda, which is nice), lie down on the towel, and wrap themselves up almost completely, with just their eyes and nose showing (it's cold, after all...)
Amanda paddled around happily with a noodle, only partially submerging herself a few times. Her biggest problem was that she wanted to talk or laugh while paddling, so she got quite a few mouthfuls of pool water. "I know how to swim!" she told everyone happily. The 5 year old wasn't much impressed with the claim, but her 8 year old older brother humored her. Eleanor found a friend (as usual) and played some sort of diving game, the exact nature of which escaped me. Her biggest problem was that she kept wanting to splash people, which did not incline them to spend time with her.
Luke is going to be the biggest problem at the pool this year. He's like a loose cannonball, running around excitedly and always in danger of falling in. Hopefully we can get Amanda swimming more responsibly, and I'll be able to concentrate most of my energy on Luke. The funny thing is that most of the time he is content to stand on the steps of the pool, emptying the pool one toy watering can at a time. But at any moment, he'll get up and start running for the edge of the deep end---only 4.5 feet, but it may as well be 10 as far as Luke is concerned. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate them!
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