Summer Fun: Marco, Polo!

We spent hours at the local pool today--and I swam the whole time.  We played good ol' Marco Polo, as well as Toothpaste, Monkey in the Middle (aka keepaway--with those plastic ball-pit balls the pool had), and basketball.  Such fun.  Lots of laughs.  And even now at the end of the day, I'm still mobile!!!  This, folks, is progress.  Very pleased.

Summer Fun: My Pool Time

I started aqua therapy a couple of weeks ago in an effort to improve my comfort level in the pool and strengthen my core.  And it's kicking my butt.  Even just hanging from the pool noodles is a work out.  Who would have thought lifting my arms up and down could make my shoulders hurt for hours?  All of which tells me how much I need this.  And the kids enjoy swimming around while I exercise.

I work out with an interesting bunch, all post-surgery--knees and backs.  It makes me feel a).  fortunate that I've never needed surgery and b). grateful that I don't hurt as much as they do.  And it also shows me what a small world Connecticut can be:  one of my pool partners is a lesbian who is getting married in August (out of 5 people, the 2 women are both lesbians??) and my other pool partner, I discovered this morning, is the older brother of the wife (another lesbian!) of my dear first PT--he even stood up at their wedding!    So you can just imagine the conversations!  Wives, weddings, and of course back pain.

We also like to watch the aqua zumba class down the lane from us.  We enjoy the music and the moves and also laugh about how the men in the zumba group hang back like they're not really part of it.  Of course, we can laugh, but we also know that we aren't even nearly capable of zumba.  We talk about joining the class when we "graduate" from therapy.

It's not a bad way to spend two mornings a week or to exercise.  And I like it much better than the treadmill.

Summer Fun 2013: Twins of Summer

It's been the summer of swimming.  From lessons to visits to friends, swimming at camp and swimming at the hotel, swimming in Texas and swimming in Connecticut, the kids have spent more time than ever before in the pool.  And they're loving it.  They're jumping in, swimming under water, doing different strokes,playing Marco Polo and Toothpaste, and having a generally wonderful time.

And I'm watching. Not just for safety (and for tips on watching for drowning, see here--because it doesn't look like what you expect), but because they're having so much fun.  Joy in their joy.  And remembering what it's like to do handstands in the water, and twirls, and flips, and silly dives.

Where I grew up, we had a neighborhood pool and I spent chunks of my summer there, as I recall.  I swam on the team, the Dolphins (with our red and white one-piece suits and dry Jello to eat for snack!  I liked orange the best), more for fun than because of any talent.  And when I was old enough, I took and passed the swim test--swim the length of the long pool and tread water for two minutes--so that I could come to the pool on my own without an adult, signified by the embroidered star stuck to my plastic pool membership tag (the star colors changed every year; my first was red.)  Which I loved to do with my next-door neighbor and other friends.

There were three pools:  the tiny, circular kiddie pool, the medium L-shaped pool in the shade favored by older people, and the huge rectangular main pool with two diving boards and eight lanes across where we had our swim practice and meets.  We could swim all day, doing everything above, plus have races and underwater tea parties together.  We'd swim til we got pruney and then swim some more, until our toes literally bled from scraping the bottom of the cement pool.  Good times, seriously.  We only stopped for the hourly 10-minute break, when all kids had to get out of the pool to rest while parents swam alone, though few did.  I think it was more of a break for the lifeguard on the high chair, but that's okay.  It was hot work. There were bathrooms but no showers or changing spaces; the main nod to hygiene and the like was the hot vinegar poured in our ears with a plastic squeeze bottle as we left to prevent ear infection.  Ah, hot vinegar, the scent of summer!

I'm not swimming myself again yet, the water causing too much (TMI warning) pelvic instability the last time I was in it, but I will.  I like it.  And maybe we'll join a local pool so the kids can keep swimming as much as they want.  That's what summer is for and this year sees the start of their loving it.  Great memories in the making for all of us.

Summer Fun 2013: Pool, Pool Party

With drizzles and clouds, we headed to the store to get goggles with the understanding that we probably wouldn't get to use them; still, it was nice to get out to see these friends (and because our neighbor's broken tree was being cut down--all 80' tall and 50' in diameter of it--and chipped noisily and the scent of brisket in the crockpot would have made us hungry all day.)  We got the goggles and some new swim shoes (both of which will be great for our trip to Texas later), piling back into the van which had the snacks we were taking, swimsuits, and swim noodles.

And the weather held!  Sis and Bud swam with their friends for almost 5 1/2 wonderful hours, with a break for tasty grilled cheeses and potato chips.  They played Marco Polo and Toothpaste (a categories game with a race component), dove for rockets and rings, and did flips and handstands, with trips to the table for Goldfish and grapes in between.  Meanwhile, Mrs. S and I chatted about pretty much everything, which was delightful (daytime adult company usually is!).  We also had a surprise visit from their great swim teacher (who we met through Mrs. S) and her grandson.

When I thought I heard thunder, after so many hours in the pool, the pruny kiddos reluctantly headed inside for watercolor-painting and Legos.  We left soon after.

It was really the perfect start to summer vacation.  Thanks, Mrs. and "Mr. Mrs-S" and girls!!!