little pool, 2017

 We've made it over there quite a few times, same old Little Pool:

 Today Jay came.  He arrived after we did, after running some errands.  p.j. saw his van pull up and said, "It's Grandpa's van!"  Then she saw him get out wearing a swim suit and she was delighted.

He jumped into two feet of water and swam with her.  He's a good sport, plus being water cheers him up.

This little girl has napped quite a bit at the pool this summer. She gets tired.  She falls asleep in my lap, but then at some point I can tell if I don't get her off of me and some circulation back into my hip, it's not going to be good.

So I slip her off of me and onto some towels.

 Other babies at the pool express concern.  "Be-be, night night?"  Yeah, she's tired.

They peer at her, frown a little, keep checking back.

Apparently sleeping on cement in a public place is just weird.

But she's okay.

My younger kids used to get tired too and take naps wherever they happened to be--on a pile of coats,  or slipped onto a couch with a pillow to keep them from rolling, whatever.  It worked.  It's worked today again.

She woke up, all hot and fuzzy, still in her bathing suit, and realized Grandpa was in the pool.  In a few minutes she was grinning and jumped in to swim with him.

Lots of love, Val

lots of pictures

Tree, struck by lightening last week--nobody was there, probably good.

The ride home:

 James, way up there, painting:

 A nap at the Little Pool:

 Love, Mom, aka Grandma

more july

Storms have moved in tonight.  This afternoon was perfectly clear, but we knew they were because of how squirrely and restless the kids were today.

No worries. We spent much of it at the Little Pool where they could be as squirrely as their little hearts desired.

She ditched her bathing suit top at some point.  James is the pool attendant, and he's awesome, runs a very laid back pool situation.

 Eventually the little one fell asleep on my lap and was shifted onto the towels.   She woke up super crabby, as anyone will waking up in a situation like that in a wet bathing suit and all, but she was revived by some crackers and a cold drink of water on the ride home with her mother.

And that's the end of a fine Monday in July.

Love, Val

tuesday pool

This morning we went to see the Teddy Bear Band.

Sounds fun!  What we didn't know was that they were supposed to bring their teddy bears, so she was bummed.  There was face painting though, and that helped.   Plus it was just good to be outside listening to music in the sunshine.

Then we went to the pool.  The pool was same as ever.

 She didn't want to get into the water, just wanted to play at the side.

Then we came home for a nice long nap.

Love, Val

sweet, rowdy june

 Kids in the Playhouse eating popsicles--

 Popsicles?

Where are they? I could probably help out with those.

Only if you need me to.

 We went to the Little Pool yesterday.

 She was the ONLY KID THERE,

 She'd been so looking forward to the horde of neighborhood swimmers, but no. She had the whole pool to herself, except for those moments when her baby sister ventured into the water.

 She was actually far more interested in nibbling snacks than swimming.

 Anyway, it was sure a peaceful visit to the pool.

Love, Grandma

little pool!

 The Little Pool at Triangle Park opened last week.

Today after my real estate appointment, p.j. was severely BUGGING me about getting the pool pass purchased so they could go to the POOL.

Tim rode along so he could supervise the two of them in the car while I did this. ($35, unlimited use, Yay!) Then he came along and helped out.  Because I asked him to. This was the first day, not sure how this was going to go.

First we stopped at Dan and Alicia's where James is babysitting this summer and tried to help those guys get out the door.

After a weekend at the lake, finding the bathing suits, etc. was a little challenging.  This family ran back into this house late yesterday and the parents were now at work. They probably knew where things were, but James and I were guessing.

James told me it was further complicated because he has no idea what the baby's bathing suit even looks like.  (I found it in a second, on top of a laundry basket. I knew what to look for.) I changed her into it, while he corralled the brothers and looked for towels.

When we sent them upstairs to change, we could hear them and their cousin over the baby monitor laughing and not necessarily changing. I called up the stairs, "Get on suits!"

In a minute they were back in the living room changing.

Then James went bathroom to bathroom, up and down, muttering, "I know there have to be three towels in this house somewhere."

As we were leaving, the Little Brother had no flip flops, no shoes.  I told him, "I saw a pair in your parents bathroom on top of the cabinet next to the sink."

Pretty specific.

Nah, he couldn't find them.

I went back there with him and repeated that and pointed. He cheered, "Those are MINE!"

Exactly.  Let's go.

 We had a good time, dragged out all the Little Pool toys, which were entirely new to these girls, newborns that they were last summer.

The other kids ran all around with the horde of children at the pool, happy to be there.

 Tim used to adore this place. Today he was commenting about how he swam all around this pool like it was an ocean, once upon a time, snorkel and mask, hour upon hour.

Now the water doesn't even reach his knees.

Yeah.

Lots of love. Always love, Val