To the Pool!

July 26, 2013

One of my disappointments about living here in the summer has been the lack of pools.  There is Blackberry Farm which has two outdoor pools, less than 2 miles from us, but it is not right for our family right now.  Yannick is not tall enough to stand in the shallow end, and Wyatt's swimming isn't good enough yet to hang out with Zachary in the deeper end.  It has one slide, which is pretty boring after Skokie Water Park.  I looked around at joining a community pool, but it is just too expensive right now.  There is always the YMCA, where we go swimming regularly, BUT, it is indoor, which is great all the time except in the summer, when I would rather be outside.  Luckily, my friend Meeah told me that that the Central Y (there are 5 Silicon Valley YMCA, and you can be a member at one and attend any of the 5) has the exact same pool as mine, but outdoor.  It is a bit of a drive - it's near the airport - at 15-20min, but today we were going for it.  I packed a lunch for us too, so we could stay longer.

It was just as we were told - exactly like our indoor one, just with the lovely summer sunshine.  All the boys splashed around for awhile until the lifeguard said that Z needs to take a swim test to make sure he can be in the deep end.  And there is a rule that you can't have 3 non-swimmers with one adult.

So we trekked off to the indoor pool for him to take the swim test.  He did great at first, treading water, and jumping in, but then freaked out a bit when he had to swim the 25m.  So he took a rest, then did it again, and was no problem.  Luckily, I figured out that he was missing his goggles, which made swimming "less enjoyable" for him.  Once I got the goggles, he was totally fine.  So now every time we go, he has to go to the lifeguard and get them to look up his name and get an arm band.

Back to the pool.  But they were getting tired, so we got out to go have lunch.  No food allowed on the pool deck, so we went out to the picnic tables out front.  They were also giving away free school supplies, so the boys loaded up.  Lunch was fine, and back to swimming.  I finally made us leave around 1:30pm, so we could get back for naps.

Wyatt and Zach playing with a tennis ball

Yannick practicing his swimming on the stairs

he looks unhappy, but really he is saying "CHEESE".  he played with a cow and a tiger much of the time.

I played with the other two as well, throwing them dive sticks they would retrieve.  I honestly thought, as I was sitting in the steps of the shallow end "now this is the life"!  

Then time to leave sadly!

Zachary got cold and needed to sit in the sun for a bit - of course his little little brother had to do the same!

Such a lovey day!