An excellent display of one of the reasons that I don't really care for the city of Houston. I mean, come on. That's just brutal. I documented it on the way to one of Sam's swim lessons, and no my car had not been parked in the sun. Good thing we have a nice, humid heat here, too. Naturally, I was concerned for the well-being of my tiny little girl, who would be forced to sit on the side of the pool with me while we watched her brother failed to follow directions in the cool water for thirty minutes. This was my solution:
Her cheeks were a little read by the end, but she was fine. Any my pediatrician assured me that exposure to short temperatures for short periods of time is not harmful. Apparently, babies have been living in Houston since well before air conditioning. Who knew?
So yes, we've entered the time of year where a great deal of my energy goes towards entertaining my children in wet or indoor ways. And yes, one of those ways is swim lessons for Sam. We are splurging on semi-privates this year, mostly for convenience in scheduling while I have a bitty in tow. Sam was off to a great start, but is becoming a bit too comfortable with his teacher. So she has switched on her "teacher mode." She thinks he can "swim" independantly if he will just pay attention a focus for a few lesson in a row here! He loves to watch this video of himself kicking all over the pool, by himself, with only the aid of a pool noodle.
Next up: the Cup Pool. We upgraded our local YMCA membership to city-wide for the summer so that we could have access to a more kid-friendly pool. We've been a couple of times now, and its totally worth it. Sam is as happy as can be running around, dumping water, walking on his hands, etc. Daddy came once, which allowed Annabelle to get in on the action. One time I left her in the Y childcare while Sam and I swam alone.
When I don't feel like braving the big pool with two kids alone, there's always the baby pool in the back yard. It doesn't hold attention for quite as long, but it sure is fun while it lasts.
We have some friends with a backyard pool that invite us over occassionally. Its a bit of a drive, but its worth it to swim with friends. Our first trip this year also served as Annabelle's first dip in the pool!
Other than that, our outside play is over for the day by 10am. After that its blocks, reading, climbing on furniture, following me around and cars. We had our visitors to keep us occupied one week, and VBS the week before. Sam really enjoyed VBS this year, talked each day about his Flying Squirrles class and still carries around his Bible Memory Buddies. He wasn't afraid of anything this year, either. I enjoyed my job this year as well - Stage Manager for the opening and closing programs in the sanctuary. It had its busy moments, but also allowed me to nurse Annabelle in the middle of the morning, which was nice for both of us.
And now Sam is back to school a few days a week for the next three weeks. I thought that I was going to have all this time to hang with Annabelle and get caught up on life, but our few days are filling up all too quickly!
Its not even 4th of July yet, which means there's 3 more months of summer weather in Houston. Join me in praying that we all survive it, won't you?
