Three Pools and a Splash Pad
As previously noted, we were in Columbus at M's sister's house over Memorial Day weekend. We returned on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday we went to my parent's house in Pennsylvania, where my sister's family was visiting for the week.
With three children under the age of 3 in the house, we didn't do a whole bunch in the way of organized excursions. My sister took her kids and my mother to visit her college roommate one day, my father and I took some long walks around their neighborhood, and there was much playing and reading. Pretty standard, really. However, Birdie did experience another first - she went to her very first swimming pool where she wasn't just towed around in a float. Which is in large part because she's outgrown the float we used in NY and NM last year.
The pool in question was one of the two indoor pools at the Butler YMCA, where my father has a retirement gig as a lifeguard. He is massively overqualified for the role (retired volunteer EMT and water rescue team), but it gets him out of around people one day a week and pays for his gym membership. He also swims laps or lifts weights during his breaks. Everyone in the family besides my mother went to the YMCA and we took the kids into the pool. The adults all had a good time. Of the kids:
- E loved every minute of it.
- Birdie was initially only willing to sit on the edge of the pool and kick and play with toys, but by the end of the visit she was happily being hauled around the pool in her bright pink pool floaty.
- J wanted no part of it and was cranky about it.
Many pool toys were played with and there was a great deal of splashing. By the end, Birdie seemed to really be getting into it. Weirdly, the part of the pool that made the biggest impression was the hot tub room, which she wasn't allowed to enter. She insisted on saying goodbye both to the hot tub and to the pool overall.
My sister's family had to leave on Saturday to return home to Atlanta, so they weren't able to join us when we went to our second pool of the trip. My father, M, Birdie and I went swimming in the outdoor pool complex next to the playground we visited over Thanksgiving. This included two shallow pools with various splash toys that she could walk in under supervision and a much larger pool that we towed her through. It was a very pleasant day.
Our local pool was completely rebuilt over the winter and opened on June 8. It also features a brand new splash pad, which dramatically reduced the distance to the closest pad. M took Birdie to try out the splash pad on June 9, but when they got there it was closed for mechanical difficulties, which is an inauspicious beginning. Having been promised a splash pad, Birdie was distraught. M decided to take her into the pool instead, so they tried out the brand new (and very crowded) pool. The new pool has a lazy river, waterslides and a kid's area in addition to the lap pool and splash pad. I expect that we'll be there a lot this summer.
As fun as these aquatic excursions were, none of them was the first of the year. After the Memorial Day parade, M and her sister and mother took Birdie and L to the splash pad near my sister-in-law's house and ran them around all day.
With three children under the age of 3 in the house, we didn't do a whole bunch in the way of organized excursions. My sister took her kids and my mother to visit her college roommate one day, my father and I took some long walks around their neighborhood, and there was much playing and reading. Pretty standard, really. However, Birdie did experience another first - she went to her very first swimming pool where she wasn't just towed around in a float. Which is in large part because she's outgrown the float we used in NY and NM last year.
The pool in question was one of the two indoor pools at the Butler YMCA, where my father has a retirement gig as a lifeguard. He is massively overqualified for the role (retired volunteer EMT and water rescue team), but it gets him out of around people one day a week and pays for his gym membership. He also swims laps or lifts weights during his breaks. Everyone in the family besides my mother went to the YMCA and we took the kids into the pool. The adults all had a good time. Of the kids:
- E loved every minute of it.
- Birdie was initially only willing to sit on the edge of the pool and kick and play with toys, but by the end of the visit she was happily being hauled around the pool in her bright pink pool floaty.
- J wanted no part of it and was cranky about it.
Many pool toys were played with and there was a great deal of splashing. By the end, Birdie seemed to really be getting into it. Weirdly, the part of the pool that made the biggest impression was the hot tub room, which she wasn't allowed to enter. She insisted on saying goodbye both to the hot tub and to the pool overall.
My sister's family had to leave on Saturday to return home to Atlanta, so they weren't able to join us when we went to our second pool of the trip. My father, M, Birdie and I went swimming in the outdoor pool complex next to the playground we visited over Thanksgiving. This included two shallow pools with various splash toys that she could walk in under supervision and a much larger pool that we towed her through. It was a very pleasant day.
Our local pool was completely rebuilt over the winter and opened on June 8. It also features a brand new splash pad, which dramatically reduced the distance to the closest pad. M took Birdie to try out the splash pad on June 9, but when they got there it was closed for mechanical difficulties, which is an inauspicious beginning. Having been promised a splash pad, Birdie was distraught. M decided to take her into the pool instead, so they tried out the brand new (and very crowded) pool. The new pool has a lazy river, waterslides and a kid's area in addition to the lap pool and splash pad. I expect that we'll be there a lot this summer.
As fun as these aquatic excursions were, none of them was the first of the year. After the Memorial Day parade, M and her sister and mother took Birdie and L to the splash pad near my sister-in-law's house and ran them around all day.