the deep blue

Big step this weekend: the kids took the official first dip into the pool! They decided they wanted to, even though the thermometer said the water was only 62 degrees. I told them to take off their shoes and socks and dip their feet in the pool - if they could keep them there, and still wanted to get in, I'd get them their swimsuits and they could go all the way.

So we all troop over to the pool. For the record, I wasn't about to put more than my heels in that water - it was cold, cold, cold! The boys were game, though. After the initial shock of the cold water, they steeled themselves and put their feet in all the way, and decided they really wanted to go all the way in after all.

With swimsuits and swim bubbles on, they started down the steps. Neither of them could get past the second step - too cold, too far down. Greyson got out and slid in from the side, going on the theory that jumping all the way in was the fastest way to go. (Our friend Mark was in there with them, being far braver about water temps than Lou or myself!) Grey can touch bottom comfortably in the shallow end, so he was happy, bouncing up and down. Charles, on the other hand, kept trying to go down the steps, but was afraid that the water was too deep. He, too, finally got out and slid in from the side, with me helping to make sure he didn't go too fast. Charles can touch bottom, but the water level is pretty high for him, so he was freaked out by the depth. (I was very, very glad that Veronica took a late nap, as she would have wanted to go in, too, and that would not have gone so well, whether we let her try or not!)

They finally got out, both shivering and teeth chattering, dried off, and got some bonus hot chocolate to help get warmed up faster. Overall, it was a pretty nice way to inaugurate the new pool! Now we just have to hope for some nice warm weather to warm it up so the whole family can go in.

Also - three recently read books off my desk:

I reread two old romance novels with characters I love - Anne Stuart's Falling Angel, which is all Christmasy and sweet, and a book of novellas called With This Ring, by multiple authors. Both fun rereads.

I also finished Gene Logsdon's Wildlife in the Garden. I'd had high hopes for this one, hoping it would have some nice tips about how to live in concert with the wildlife on your property ... but it was more of an ideological treatise than a how-to guide, and I got a bit tired of being preached at. Too bad, really.