Bye, bud

We envisioned spending long hours at the pool this summer... swimming, splashing, sliding, listening for lifeguard whistles, and snacks by the pool.  And while we tried to go as often as possible, we've come to realize that the boys aren't really to the point of spending hours and hours poolside.  That didn't stop us from trying, however!  At least one day each weekend, we made the trek to the pool.  Average time spent there?  1.5 hours.  Including sunscreen application and a snack break.

Oh well.  Despite the sometimes cool water temps, the laborious sunscreen applications, and leaving early because someone's baby missed their diaper - we had a great time on our family outings.  Luke and Matt both took swimming lessons this summer and gained a lot of confidence in the water.  Will and Nate splashed around - Will continues to enjoy kicking in the pool.  We tried to get him to wear goggles to avoid getting water in his eyes, but he wasn't really into that.  He just calmly closed his eyes and smiled big whenever someone around him was splashing and making waves.  Nate got a nice compliment by a woman at the pool. 

"I've been watching you," she said.  "I watched you last summer too.  With your son.  You amaze me!"

It's really good that it went that way.  Otherwise it totally could have been creepy.

I tried my best to capture some of our fun, enjoying how the boys smiled and played all together.  Hoping that when they look back at the photos, they remember the summer they spent squirting each other in the pool with 75 mL syringes and floating in the lazy river.  But only in 1.5 hour chunks.

Unlike my pool growing up, our local pool here stays open through the first weekend in October.  So late!  I'd like to think that we will make some more weekend time to go between now and then... but not sure if that will happen between school and sports!  So this is likely our summer pool goodbye... to a good buddy.  Until next year!  Hopefully we'll see you for longer bits of time :)