Opening Day at the Pool

Each summer we've lived here, we've wrestled with whether or not to buy a pool membership. Every time, I've said no. It's expensive. We're out of town quite a bit. And I'm a total cheapskate.

But this summer is different. The boys and I will be here quite a bit, both with and without Daddy, and in need of serious hot-weather entertainment. If that entertainment doubles as a nap-inducing physical activity, so much the better. But my main concern is that Isaac is old enough now that I think he should start some serious swim lessons. These are offered at all pools in our area, and only to members. So here we are.

Today was opening day at our pool. There was some promo about free noodles to the first 75 kids, but we didn't quite make it there in time. Most importantly, we had a birthday party to attend in the early afternoon -- a preschool friend's little brother turned 3. They live only half a mile away from us, and I'm proud to say my eldest one did the environment proud by riding his Big Wheel all the way from our house to theirs and back. Of course, the return trip was fueled by cupcakes. That helped.

Feeling the surge of sugary goodness coursing through our guts, we decided to forgo nap and head to the pool. At first I was hesitant to go because it was, oh, 70 degrees out? But hey, we're all paid up! Why not put those membership cards to use?

We made it there at 5. The water was freezing cold. Isaac promptly jumped in the baby pool and "swam" up to his neck for the better part of an hour. The boy has no nerve endings, I swear.



There were only a few people there, making the baby wrangling that much easier. Our good buddies Camille and Noah even popped in for a few minutes. Camille convinced Isaac that the Big Pool would not eat him alive, and so we even went for a dip there, Mommy and all. Isaac donned his life jacket and, with his lower half in the water, enjoyed clinging for dear life to the pool wall while Jacob sat next to us on the deck.

Coming so late, I thought we would miss the free noodle giveaway. Little did I know that, staying so late, we'd benefit from the 15-odd noodles people had left behind, almost littered throughout the pool.



I insisted we take two, and both boys questioned the morality of such a thing. Shut UP! Technically, we weren't given noodles, no... but I think we are the only poolgoers on earth to own absolutely none of them. To make up for our victimless crime, we took all the toys people left behind in the baby pool and personally dropped them in the lost and found. The pool manager saw us doing only the latter half of this and complimented me on my "stellar parenting", completely negating any good karma I earned.