On Friday, June 29, the weather report said it was going to be in the upper 90s with a heat index over 100 degrees (little did we know that soon enough we would hit in the triple digits BEFORE the heat index!). I had asked Shawn to blow up the kiddo pool the night before, and we decided to leave it only two rings high rather than all three so we could stick the slide in like we've done in the past. He finished blowing it up, but I didn't realize he hadn't put water in it. When we went out ready to swim, we started filling it up, but it took a long time. The kids had fun splashing, and Ryan played in the water table for awhile, but it was so hot we decided to come in. Grandpa Georgia stopped by briefly, and so did Aunt Becky. She told us she was heading to Skyline and would we like to join her?
Originally I said no. First, I had plans to go the 12:15 BodyPump class at the gym while Joshua did his Little Ninjas at the same time. Second, it's a little overwhelming to watch three kids and make sure they don't drown. I can't put down the baby if someone isn't doing well and it makes me nervous. Third, it's expensive to get into the pool. She said she'd be bored if we didn't go and volunteered to help with the kids and pay part of our way in. I told her I'd think about it. I went to the gym and did a short run afterwards, deciding that maybe the boys would enjoy the water. They all seemed in good spirits when I took them home and fed them lunch, so we decided to go for it!
I tried calling her cell phone, but she didn't answer. We went anyway, and I prayed that I would recognize her car if she was still there. I saw one that looked like hers, and upon further inspection I saw a little note that said "Aunt Becky & Uncle Tim" in the back seat. Yes, she was still there!
The boys had not napped, including baby Ryan, but I knew this was a unique opportunity to go to the local pool that has all the fun kiddo stuff on an extremely hot day with a helper. Aunt Becky is normally working, so I'm not sure why she had off this particular day. Maybe she just took off to enjoy the weather?
The water was SO refreshing. It felt chilly when you first got in, but not for long in the 100-degree heat. They have two kiddo pools that only go up to a few feet, so the boys could stand in both. We only allowed them in those areas, but each one had plenty of fun things to do. The one has a slide that Caleb LOVED. It also had that blue hoop that sprays soft water down (Ryan loved to feel that one) and the mushroom where the boys & Aunt Becky would play that it was "jail" and they'd have to go under the water fall. They also like feeling the sprayers come out of the ground at the start of the baby pools.
The other side (which you can see in the picture below) has a contraption in the middle where all the water comes down in different forces so you can go under and get wet. It gets a little deeper at the end than the first baby pool, but the kids could still stand in it.
Caleb desperately wanted to go down the bigger slides, but I told him that that was a good incentive for him to do well in his swim lessons. He can't go down bigger slides until I'm confident they know how to swim without help. Swim lessons start the day after his birthday and go through the following week, every day. So, hopefully both boys enjoy them and pass them to move onto the next level. It's important to me that they both can swim well enough to not drown if they would fall in somewhere.
Plus, some day it would be nice to enjoy all parts of the pool and not just the baby areas. I think Joshua could do it if we worked with him more, but that's difficult to do when you have more kids than hands. :)
They still had a blast, though. We stayed all afternoon until roughly 5:30-6 pm when I called Shawn to see where he was. I tried to convince him to come to the pool with us, but he said maybe another day. The kids were all beat. Ryan never did nap, but he enjoyed the water. I must have put sunscreen on all of them at least three times throughout our pool times. Thankfully, no one got fried.
When we got home, we ate pizza for dinner and Joshua actually ate the meat on his for the first time. That said, Ryan LOVES sausage and meat of just about any variety. Neither of our other kids have ever enjoyed it as much as he does! Wow! So, we were surprised at Ryan and more surprised at Joshua who said (and I quote) "Yum! I like this macaroni pizza." Shawn insisted we correct him to say pepperoni even though I thought it was an adorable mistake. :) :) :)
When I asked them their favorite part of the day, the boys said swimming with Aunt Becky at the pool. We did have a fun time!
And all the boys were in bed and asleep before 8 pm. That is a FIRST! They were all exhausted! And while I was too, I wasn't about to miss out on time with Daddy and no boys. We snuggled on the couch and watched a movie together before going to bed. It was a great start to the weekend!
Thanks for inviting us to the pool, Aunt Becky!
And thanks, boys, for being so well behaved. Especially sweet baby Ryan was so good for not having slept and not being able to do all the fun things the older boys can. He still loved the water and was very mellow in the sun. :) :) :) Having good boys makes life easier and more enjoyable!
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