Call It What You Want...

What use is a neighborhood pool if you never use it?

With that in mind, yesterday the boy and I got all dressed in our swim gear, blew up the new pool toy and headed to the park -- only to be greeted with an empty pool due to thunder off in the distance. I am all for safety, so I had no problem with waiting 20 minutes after the thunder to get in... except when 15 minutes into the wait, there was another rumble. We waited and played in the park and went exploring for about an hour, then played in the pool for about half an hour.

Today was sunny and hot and another perfect opportunity. After a good nap and a reasonably decent lunch (no food-spitting), we went off.

This is the new whale toy that Mark got to use today. And in the baby pool, it was amazing.

The underside of the toy has a seat for baby to "sit" in, with leg holes too small for anyone to fall through. Mark is just tall enough to stand on the floor of the baby pool and let this thing support him, and off he went! He cruised around the pool, around and around, splashing, chasing after other kids, trying to take a car away from another little boy (a four-year-old, who was a little mortified) -- mommy did make him stop. He also left his had on his head the whole time, making the above picture slightly inaccurate. (The baby looks surprisingly like Mark as is. And of course the thin and shapely mommy looks just like Mark's mommy, too.)

Imagine my surprise, however, when we're playing, cruising around the pool, having a high time, and I hear "Hi Mark!" from right behind me.

Yes, indeed, Mark has friends who recognize him. Unfortunately for Mommy, however, my recognition skills failed me. Turns out it was the sweet little boy across the street. How'm I supposed to recognize him outside of his yard?!?! He's a grade-school aged boy who really loves little kids and always talks to Mark when he's out playing in the yard and we go by. So we played with Corbin for a little while -- Corbin doing funny things trying to get Mark to laugh -- and then he and his mom had to go home. Next time I hope we'll recognize him first (very embarrassed blush).

The poor baby could hardly hold his head up on the way home, and he went off to a nap as soon as he got out of his swimsuit and swim diaper. I hope he gets a good nap -- he's gonna need it!