That Time of the Year

They came to me after lunch yesterday begging to get out the yellow plastic wading pool.  You might recall my struggle with loving the yellow plastic wading pool (even though it is cheap entertainment for them all summer long) from this post last year.  I groaned.  It couldn’t be time to get out that hunk of flimsy plastic that doesn’t die yet, could it?  But it was almost 70 degrees out.  There was no wind.  Their faces were filled with hope.  So I said a statement that I’ve lazily been saying a lot this pregnancy, “If you can do it all yourself, go ahead.”

I didn’t really think there was any way they would actually be able to get it down from the hook it was suspended on in the shed.  But wouldn’t you know it, those monkeys came up with a plan and worked together and managed to bump it off the hook and roll it out the door and drag it to the middle of the yard.  They got the hose and filled it up and played ALL afternoon without any sibling spats at all.

They went round and round down that little slide as fast as they could go, filling the neighborhood with screams and squeals (the water was ice cold, of course).  They developed an elaborate pretend play game that involved Ya Ya being a swimming teacher (she set up the teepee tent so she’d have her own private teacher’s lounge).  They wore their life jackets (pretty much all too small for them now) and had “rescue classes,” and Ya Ya the lifeguard even instituted rest times where they were forced to sit still at the side of the pool for approximately 45 seconds straight.

And so, summer is pretty much hear, even though we had a snowstorm last weekend.  The pool is out.  Brightly colored beach towels are drying on the deck railing.  I’m sure the mosquitos and mayflies will arrive soon.