Makin' Waves...

Aaahhh... there's nothing better than lounging by the pool on a hot, humid day, baking in the blazing-bright sun, listening to the sound of water-play, watching someone else splish-splash around in refreshingly cool, chlorinated water!

Except, of course, when that someone else is your own kid and the hot, humid day is the day of her very first swimming lesson. Then, it just might be worth it... right?

Especially if, afterwards, you get to enjoy a yummy lunch you didn't have to fix yourself and dirty dishes you don't have to clean up afterwards in an air conditioned restaurant and then, after pigging-out, you get to settle down in a comfy reclining arm chair in a cool, dark theater and watch a funny movie, candy in hand.

Oh, yeah!

This was our Tuesday.

First of all, I dug deep into an old box of Jenna's clothes and found this adorable little Tweety swim suit that fit Hannah perfectly - thank goodness for hand-me-downs! It reminded me of how much I thought Jenna looked like Tweety with her big blue eyes and thick, dark lashes... and now all of my kids have 'em, but they didn't come from me, unfortunately!

I prepped Hannah for this lesson ahead of time, so first thing in the morning she's rarin to go, running around reminding us that she's going to her first swimmin' lesson. I have to remind her that she is not the only one who needs to get ready to go.  I had on summer-thin blue pjs.  They were comfortable.  But probably not appropriate at swim lessons.  

My sister-in-law, Julie, her son Josh, Hannah, Cohen and I all piled into the car and drove to the gym pool where Hannah's lesson would take place. We didn't have to go far; the gym is right down the street (Why in the heck is it so hard for me to get down there to work out?!)

Anyways...

Here's Miss Me, Me, Me, dressed and ready to go, poolside.

And here's to living...

Life on the edge! HA!
*


And takin' the plunge, finally.

Hi, mom... yes, I know you're back there...and I'm sendin' you a mental note - if I don't like it, I ain't doin' it and you can't make me FROM WAY OVER THERE! HA! :)

And then? PROGRESS.

Look at me! Wow, I can actually do this!

...As long as I have someone holding me at all times, with two hands firmly planted on a major part of my body and I'm able to stretch my neck like the true swan I am far enough away from the water to keep from getting so much as a drop of water on my sensitive chin, which means what you want me to do next is completely OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Bubble making?

Can I do that from up here?
Cuz this is about as close as I get!

And finally - finally! - finished after a trying, grueling, entire 30 minutes!
Whew! Tough Stuff!

And now I can tell everyone how great I was cuz, well, I'm not in the pool anymore!

But seriously, I was definitely a proud mommy; she did very well, considering it was her first lesson in the pool. She wasn't as scared as I thought she might be - just very, very firm on her limits! ;)

Having her own cheering section probably helped...

Josh has the right idea.
He is actually doing what I thought of doing myself cuz it was so darn hot. Did I mention that already? Oh yeah.

Cohen's not too keen on the heat, either.

Our little ball of enthusiasm...
Oh, yes, buddy! Someday, you, too, can be a Bubble Maker!

When we signed up for this gym, I had no idea how incredible the kiddie pool was.


While the kids were gearing up to go in, a buzzing/humming vibrated the whole pool area for a minute, and I'm thinking RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, PEOPLE! SOMETHING'S GONNA BLOW, but then the fountains kicked in and the water rushed down the slide, and these great big cones started filling with water and tipping over one by one to splash water into the pool below as they filled and re-filled. For kids who wanna stand underneath them and get dumped on.

Oddly enough, there are people fifty feet away or so, breathing fire and sweating like crazy on those crazy, electronic slave-driving machines - oh, yeah. I forgot where I was for a minute...

And then: the celebration luncheon ;) at Red Robin's.

Where Hannah ordered "Sgetti" and Josh ordered Pizza, but there was no marinara sauce, so Hannah settled for fettuccine and Josh, a burger - on the house! Gotta love that!

And then, across the parking lot we went to the ridiculously large and regal Palladium/IMAX theater for SHREK!


The inside actually has a restaurant and a sports bar.

Josh and Julie, bellies full, ready for the movie...

...which was pretty funny and the perfect ending to the day's events. Cohen watched over half of the movie, chuckling when the characters laughed and mumbling back when the characters got a little loud. It was very cute.

Hannah did really well too. I was surprised she didn't fall asleep in the dark theater. She actually lasted until the second she was strapped into her car seat and on the way home.

No wonder: it was a busy day for her!

I was so proud of my little mermaid in the making. Is that corny? Probably. Yes. Oh, well. When she refused to go under water today, I reminded her that mermaids swim under the water and mermaids are beautiful when they swim. She came home and repeated the very same things to grandma Judy over the telephone. And they say kids don't listen...

And I figure swimming lessons were a much better idea than the 60s rock revival she had in mind...

Right?