go to the pool.
this was our first visit to the public pool this year.
i only want to go if craig will go too.
otherwise four kids hanging on me is NOT fun.
but if he’s there…
he can throw them high in the air.
give dolphin rides.
swim under you and grab your feet and pull you under water…
you know like the big (mean) kids did when you little and you hated it?
everyone needs to experience that.
annie was loving the froggy slide!
talby and scott were there too but too quick for pictures.
she and sean were going done the big slide over and over.
and i even saw scott going off the boards.
that is not like him at all.
he gets so nervous…
so i was proud to see him flying off the board.
half the fun of going to the pool getting a snack at the concessions stand.
annie picked a ring pop.
when we were kids we went to the pool everyday.
from 2:00 – 5:00.
everyday.
we rode our bikes and i still remember the gravel on the road
just as you got to the bike racks.
and waiting by the doors if they weren’t open yet.
sometimes i hear a song on the radio and immediately think of
that song coming through the crackly sad speaker above the concessions.
i remember that half door with the wood counter on top that raised up
for the (very cool) lifeguards to go into after their shift.
when i grab the side of the pool i always think of when i would go in
“the deep”…the 6 foot…past the rope.
(can’t you almost feel the rope on your hands right now?)
we’d practice pushing off the side into pretty back flips.
then getting out at break time and lying down on a sun-warmed towel.
and the life guards whistling at the same time to end break time.
our pool had a high dive…oh climbing that ladder…
makes my stomach cramp just to think about it.
what a great part of childhood.
makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Suzanne - shivering from reading about the high dive…brings back memories of our high dive at the public pool too! i maybe did it once or twice my entire life…i’m still not much of a daredevil!
Jess - Megan-
I love reading your blog (I found it through Amy’s). It is fun to see pictures of Talby and what she is doing this summer. I miss Talby! I love the junk man and all the other crafts you have been doing. I also love seeing pictures of your house and scrapbook pages. You are so creative…now I know where Talby gets it from. Tell Tably that there is a letter in the mail for her. Happy summer!
Jess
Liz - As usual, your pictures are just beautiful. Your family is so lucky to have you taking pics like this! And your description of the pool made me want to go AWOL from work and sneak into an apartment pool or something. It also reminded me of the movie The Sandlot.
Glad you’re all having a fun summer.
Staci - Wow! What great memories! We got to go to the public pool occasionally and I can still remember that feeling going off the high-dive! EEEK! I’m with you on taking the kids by myself to the pool! It would be NO fun! Sweet husband is the fun one in our family…I’m all about safety and clean up! Looks like you had a great day–and the best part about that is EARLY bedtime because tired kiddoes! YEA BABY!
traci - meg, what great memories. loved to read about them. thanks for sharing. love the pix of annie too!!! so cute!
lorel - Oh yeah! I remember Cindy Chesser being there now! Actually yesterday, after I posted my first comment, I thought about it some more, and figured when we were riding to the pool, I must have been AT LEAST 9 (hee hee). And you know I have always been so mature…I had everything under control.
One more thing – last week I took the girls to a pool in a nearby suburb – our local outdoor pool is under construction – and Macy jumped off the diving board before I even knew they had one! She was so proud of herself!
princess lasertron - omg I want annie’s swimsuit!!!!
julie - That froggy slide is the best thing ever! What a fun pool. My brother and I rode our bikes to the pool every day when we were little. Got Otter Pops at the snack bar… simple paradise. My mom got a nice little break too.
Kristy - Megan-
Do you remember riding our bikes to the pool, getting our ten-speed-handle-bars tangled up and crashing in the middle of Ash St? I remember going to the pool with bloody knees!
Oh My–I can smell the pool, hear the music, AND picture sliding through the restroom in flip-flops!
Good Times!
mom - Meg-
I just read Lorel’s post. It sounds like I just left you guys at home, but I didn’t – really!! Remember Cindy Chesser? She would come and stay in the mornings and I believe go with you to the pool. If not, then you may have riden by yourselves. It was Neodesha!
Hillsboro was different. Lorel was older, but we still had sitters off and on to stay with you.
Both of you are great writers! Very well described. Good job!
Jenny - Oh, WOW!
You just bought a flood of memories back – except I’m in Australia so it was a bit different: it was an enclosed ocean baths (to protect from sharks, jellyfish, stingrays etc), we had hot snacks (as well as cold drinks) ’cause we’d come out of the ocean so cold we’d be almost blue!! So, we’d have to warm up fast with hot potato cakes – then we’d throw ourselves down on the baking cement just to warm up again!! And I remember standing on the back deck watching a family friend dive into the ocean and then disappear … we were so scared … and then we saw him come up on the beach, he’d held his breath & swum under the water the whole way. Phew!!!Oh gosh Meg, you’ve got me tearing up! Thanks for the memories! 🙂
Rychelle - I want to be you when I grow up. Wait. I am grown up. But still waiting for “Mr. Right” and five kids of my own. Until then, I will sit here and read your blog and envy (I mean admire) you. I love how much you appreciate and cherish all that you have. I’m so glad that I found your blog. I hope that’s not too creepy coming from a blog stalker! Thanks for sharing your life and positivity. It makes me smile. I need that.
chris - Looks like a fun time for most.
I love the brown , dark like yours, I just did it today I am waiting for my husband to come home and see it , I think he will love it.
I painted that bed of mine when I bought it brand new , I loved the shape not the honey pine color. I sure hate painting , I am painting my stairs too right now , at least my room walls are complete.
Chris
Peggy - You take amazing photographs!!!
emily - I love the frog slide, it is so retro-cool. I also love the bright red swimsuit against the cool blue water. Lovely.
I have been MIA the last few days, company keeps you busy and I am STILL recovering, I just woke from a nap on the sofa and decided to drop by your blog first thing. Glad I did, it always gets my creative juices flowing.
amy - meg~
i remember my neighborhood pool too. in fact i can remember feeling so much like i had to jump off that high dive, but hating each and every step up the ladder. love this post!!
happy summer.
amy
robin bird - i’m still here hanging out at your blog meg…in and out of the house, doing my chores, reading a little more of your blog…oh and you just put up this new post!…watering the garden, feeding zippy…and eating my favorite breakfast. then i photographed it like you did 🙂 and i will post it later as my first favorite thing post.
the pool memories: we had a pool in our backyard when we were kids and we spent every day of our summer turning into prunes, flipping, flopping and drowning one another…i have 2 sisters. i spent the first week each year getting up the nerve to dive head first (vs feet first) off the board into the ‘deep end’ (8ft) as though i had never done it before. It was some of the best times of my young life. your children look like they are completely immersed in summer fun mode! really nice photos!
your new friend bird tweet robin from down the road 🙂
lorel - Macy was just asking me about how often we would go to the pool. I said I figured just about everyday, from 2:00- 5:00, except on Tues. and Thurs. when I had my paper route with dad. I told her how we would put on our suits, and sometimes a cover-up and sometimes not, wrap our towel around our shoulders like a scarf and ride our bikes down to the pool. All the kids did this. So then I wondered, was I home by myself/watching you when I was 8? Riding my bike all over town with no supervision at all? Wow. Macy’s childhood and my childhood are different in soooooo many ways.
I also remember that I liked to drink 7-up (or Shasta Lemon-Lime)after swimming if I could, because dad said that it would “get our burps out” if we had swallowed some pool water. Silly.
Diane - That is one cool frog slide. I wish I had stories to tell or remember, but we lived in the inner city growing up, and there weren’t any pools around, if there was my parent’s certainly would never take me to it. The beach was almost 3 hours away. We vacationed here in FL when I was 12 and I came very close to drowning in the ocean. Geez- not good memories, huh? I’m making them now though! For my children and myself. 🙂
Amanda Jo - Oh this post brings back all kinds of memories especially the part about how when you hear certain songs it brings you right back to those days.
Oh, and I’m a whopping 5’2″ so 6′ is still the deep end for me!
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! you’re right about God’s timing and I appreciate you reminding me of His soveriegnty (why don’t they have spell check for comments?!).
By the way, I think our hubby’s could be best friends. David is all about old school pool shinanigans (again with the spell check)!!