On Friday I had all the cousins over here except one, for a few hours, while Jamie was at Kate's house (a stone's throw from mine) helping her pack for her pending move. I thought that I'd be able to leave the kids to their own devices, playing with toys, running around the house like maniacs, etc. but after 15 minutes of that I realized I wouldn't be able to avoid being a full-time referee to avoid any serious issues. (Who knew that blogging and catching up on my favorite websites while enoying an afternoon snack is near impossible with 7 maniacs in the house? How DO mothers of septuplets do it?) The cousins really get along great; they were all just very hyper that day and those first 15 minutes had already included a few minor injuries & heated discussions about who gets what toy. So, I thought to myself, what can we do that will be fun for everyone? Swim! We have more than enough extra swim suits around here so the kids each got ready and we headed outside.
The posse lined up for sunscreen: Zoe, Tyson, Presley, Lucy, Sam, Brooklyn, Molly. Noah is conspicuously absent; he was still at school, and Keeton was napping at Kate's.
I didn't get any good "action shots" because I didn't want the camera to get wet - and I had to get busy lifeguardin'.
We had a great time without incident... oh yeah, except when Sam fell in the deep end and sent my heart a-racin' (Will he need more than a pat on the back? Do I know CPR? Do people still do mouth-to-mouth? Can I trust one of the older kids [age 5] to dial 911? How long before NewsHawk 5 is circling overhead and I'm forever immortalized by "Gilbert Mom allows near-drowning of nephew while attempting to simultaneously lifeguard 7 children, ages 2-5... pool fence was present but not closed at the time of the incident.")
Sammy was fine... one cough and he'd gotten over it. I hugged him longer than he needed, but I needed it! It was really a non-event but enough to make me much more aware for the rest of the afternoon. I'm accustomed to my less-adventurous kids who rarely stray from the safe confines of the steps! But, I'll definitely be ready for next time. Bring on the summer!
4 comments:
Totally cute pictures, and I'm glad that everyone had fun. I just hope Sam isn't scarred for the rest of the summer! :)
I asked for pictures of kids and you delivered. Thank you! Great post. My girls had a GREAT time that day. I'm sure we'll be having many similar days in the coming months, minus the near drowning experience!
Sam chose to sit on the side of the pool for the next 20 minutes or so, with his feet in the water and playing with a squirt gun... but after a while he warmed back up to the water & was "all the way in" on the top step playing with the other toddlers :)
I don't think this will work as well next time, without more adults... Zoe and Lucy are now able to "monkey" all the way from the steps to the deep end and then climb out. It was much safer when they stuck to the steps! It's amazing (there's that word again!) how much progress they made just yesterday afternoon, becoming comfortable enough to do all that monkeying on their own. I'll take a little lifeguarding help next time we have the whole posse here!
Are all those little bathing beauties my grandkids! Wow, what cuties, thanks for the picture.
Post a Comment