Pool Time

For the first time in as long as I can remember, Kyle did not work all weekend. That gave Claire and me the opportunity to run errands and do fun things for an entire afternoon on Saturday (today we had less-fun errands like Sam's Club and HyVee). Yesterday we got to play with animals at the pet store, get a balloon animal made, get her face painted, have lunch without the twins, play with some Wii-like apparatus at Best Buy, get ice cream and cookies, and just generally enjoy each other's company immensely. It was fantastic one-on-one mother-daughter time that is all too rare around here. I believe she was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow last night. I wiped her out.

Today we took the kids to the pool for the first time this summer. I know, I know, it's August already - but between Kyle's work schedule and our strange cool, rainy summer, I haven't been able to find a day that worked for everyone. And I thought I needed Kyle's help given we have three non-swimmers. What I learned today is that I can likely manage a pool trip without him, so maybe we'll get one or two more visits in before the pool closes soon. The baby pool area is gated, heavily life guarded, and the water is shin deep at most.

While Claire and I schemed on Saturday about today's pool visit, I envisioned the twins' reaction to the water. I was totally accurate. This afternoon when we arrived at the pool Molly made a bold entrance, went straight for the sand pit and started digging, but freaked about the pools and water. She ended up the overly cautious kid. Lily was terrified of everything in the beginning, cried over anything we introduced her to, but after she warmed up to the idea she became her usual dare-devil self and went down the water slide at least 40 times. Molly, instead, sat on the side of the water slide pool and preferred that I sit there with her. Just in case. She was social with me and others, but not at all interested in going in the water. Lily, as always, was a ball of action and did not socialize with anyone.

The end result of the pool trip? Exhausted twins, which has continued to this very moment as Molly screams herself to sleep upstairs. Sometimes, this wear-them-down approach backfires.

Here are some photos of the kids enjoying the water. Here's Lily, going down the water slide ...

... and all three kids together in the water slide pool ...

... and Molly watching Lily go down the slide over and over ....

... and Molly doing her usual sit-by-the-pool thing ...

... she's actually not yawning, but singing a little song, so I took that as a sign she still enjoyed herself today despite her water fears. I guess that means we should try this again soon.