Pool Party!!!

Well our local public pool finally officially opened this weekend, just in time for our perfect 84 degree weather we were having! Can I get a "Ya Hoo!!??" We spent about 2 1/2 hours there yesterday afternoon, much to the kids' delight, and despite me having frequent reapplications of SPF 70 (by my very willing but slightly inept 6 year old) I suffered my first sunburn of the season... Hopefully my LAST, because it was a pretty rough night!

Most of my children were born with gills and fins, and couldn't have enough playtime in the water if we lived there. But then there's Ya'shar.... (Note the middle picture above where's he contentedly playing on the STEPS going into the pool.) He NEVER left there the entire time, except for once when I tried to bring him into the 2 1/2 feet of water with me and I couldn't pry his little arms from around my neck! He was seriously panic-stricken!!

Let me back track...

Last year, almost 1 year ago exactly, we were on vacation with my mom and dad. The kids were playing with some water toys in the hotel pool, sort of on the steps going in, and my mom and dad were less than 20 feet away on the other side of the pool, floating on rafts. I was with the kids and had ordered us all some smoothies, so I hopped on another raft to paddle out and give some to mom and dad. Now, ALL the kids were wearing floaty rings while they were playing by the pool (Mama's rule!) and I was right there with them. They weren't even in the water. So I paddled over to mom and dad, and just as I was handing them their drinks, I looked back (literally 10 seconds had passed) and I didn't see Ya'shar. I looked all around the pool, thinking he'd run off to chase a lizard, but he was NOWHERE!

All of a sudden I noticed the very tip top of a curly brown head bobbing up and down in the water at the bottom of the steps, IN the pool. He was on his tippy toes with his head back, his nose and mouth just barely out of the water, trying to gulp some air. I flung myself off the raft and swam as fast as I could and scooped him up. He'd taken his little ring off and decided to hop down the steps to where he couldn't quite reach, and it happened SO fast!!! He was coughing and sputtering and gagging and choking, but was fine in a few minutes. I was sobbing and freaking out and SO mad at myself for being so stupid. My dad was especially shook up, too. He had had some close calls himself and it was always very important to him when we were kids that we felt comfortable in the water.

It kinda killed the mood for the rest of the afternoon, and needless to say, Ya'shar wasn't so anxious to get back in the water again the rest of the time we were there.

We swam several times last summer AFTER all that happened and he seemed to be over it, but with this being the first swim of the summer, it sorta freaked him out a bit, and we're back to square one... They're all taking swim lessons later this summer, and they're pretty comfortable (fearless, actually) in the water except for Ya'shar, so I guess we'll be working on that alot the next few weeks!

So here's praying you all have a very fun and SAFE summer!! And don't forget your sunscreen!!!! (says the Lobster Lady...)