On a 98 degree Monday, Julian and I decide to go to the local pool, one I have never visited before. When we arrive I am overcome with nostalgia. It feels like the pools I used to go to as a kid, where you can get candy at the concession stand, take a break from the sun at a picnic table in the shade, jump off the ancient looking diving board or play ball in the kiddie pool where you can easily stand up.
After paying our $6 admission, we change into our suits and hit the pool. There are water slides into the 4 foot pool and we head for those first. I am a little stunned that the way up to the slide is a platform climbing situation, instead of user friendly stairs. Julian is at the top in a heartbeat and waits while I hoist myself to each platform. I don't think I'll be a doing a lot of water sliding today...
I go down first so I can help him when he comes gets to the water. I feel like Alice in Wonderland as I fit myself into the kid size tube, but once I begin to slide, the world is a red blur. In seconds I am shooting out of the hole, into the water. Sunglasses flying, ill fitting swimsuit top slipping....I'm laughing as I gather myself and tell Julian to come on down. In a second he shoots out the hole like a banana out of the peel and goes under. I grab him and pull him up and his eyes are wide with surprise. He didn't think it was going to be such a fast ride either.
We spend the next several hours playing with an orange ball we got at the dollar store, going from kiddie pool to big pool and him laughing as I do a wobbly cannon ball off the wobbly diving board.
Later we are relaxing in the shade, eating hot french fries with delicious thick pink sauce, sipping cool water and talking about what a fun day we're having. He asks for some Starburst candies from the concession stand and I give in. I know he's spent a whole lot of energy today and maybe a little sugar is ok...
He opens his brightly colored candy stack and there are about 12 gooey cubes, individually wrapped. He tells me he wants to give some to the kids he was playing with in the pool and I watch as he offers them a treat. They smile and say thanks. Julian looks around and sees other kids and runs to them with an offer of candy. He goes around the entire pool, giving some to the teenage lifeguards, the Hispanic family at their table, the pre pubescent girls in tiny two piece swim suits, the toddlers in the kiddie pool. The whole time he has a big smile on his face. He comes back with one candy left, sits down to unwrap it and pops it into his little happy mouth.
I wrap my arms around him and give him a tight squeeze. "That was so great, Julian," I say. "Doesn't it feel good to share with everyone?"
"Yeah," he says with a sugar coated smile. "It makes my brain feel good."
After paying our $6 admission, we change into our suits and hit the pool. There are water slides into the 4 foot pool and we head for those first. I am a little stunned that the way up to the slide is a platform climbing situation, instead of user friendly stairs. Julian is at the top in a heartbeat and waits while I hoist myself to each platform. I don't think I'll be a doing a lot of water sliding today...
I go down first so I can help him when he comes gets to the water. I feel like Alice in Wonderland as I fit myself into the kid size tube, but once I begin to slide, the world is a red blur. In seconds I am shooting out of the hole, into the water. Sunglasses flying, ill fitting swimsuit top slipping....I'm laughing as I gather myself and tell Julian to come on down. In a second he shoots out the hole like a banana out of the peel and goes under. I grab him and pull him up and his eyes are wide with surprise. He didn't think it was going to be such a fast ride either.
We spend the next several hours playing with an orange ball we got at the dollar store, going from kiddie pool to big pool and him laughing as I do a wobbly cannon ball off the wobbly diving board.
Later we are relaxing in the shade, eating hot french fries with delicious thick pink sauce, sipping cool water and talking about what a fun day we're having. He asks for some Starburst candies from the concession stand and I give in. I know he's spent a whole lot of energy today and maybe a little sugar is ok...
He opens his brightly colored candy stack and there are about 12 gooey cubes, individually wrapped. He tells me he wants to give some to the kids he was playing with in the pool and I watch as he offers them a treat. They smile and say thanks. Julian looks around and sees other kids and runs to them with an offer of candy. He goes around the entire pool, giving some to the teenage lifeguards, the Hispanic family at their table, the pre pubescent girls in tiny two piece swim suits, the toddlers in the kiddie pool. The whole time he has a big smile on his face. He comes back with one candy left, sits down to unwrap it and pops it into his little happy mouth.
I wrap my arms around him and give him a tight squeeze. "That was so great, Julian," I say. "Doesn't it feel good to share with everyone?"
"Yeah," he says with a sugar coated smile. "It makes my brain feel good."
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