Splash, Splash...I Might As Well Be Taking a Bath

Living in the sweltering heat and humidity of the South, there is really no other place to be in the summertime than the pool. From mid-May through mid-September each year, we practically live there. Our beloved pool has become a gathering place over the years, and the Little Nguyens have many friends from school, from church and from our neighborhood who they join in play there nearly every day.

As a child, my mom would buy a punch card to the Westmoor Pool once each summer, and other than the public library and free summer movies at the Midwest Theater on Tuesday afternoons, it sufficed as my summertime entertainment. I wouldn't have had it any other way, and I still wouldn't. There were no fancy camps and no day trips to the museum. Lunch "out" meant having Dad bring home 25 cent hamburgers and French fries from McDonald's during their "25 Cent Week". Oh, Lord, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when he pulled up in the driveway in his sheriff's car with a bag full of cheeseburgers! But every afternoon by 1:30, you could find me cooling off with Paula and Rachel.  My babysitter took me to our neighborhood pool every weekday.  I can almost smell the coconut-y Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil and Coppertone SPF, umm...10. Mmmmm... 

 With the exception of never bringing home a bag of cheeseburgers from McDonald's and opting for a higher SPF level on our sunscreen, I do the same for my boys. Summer means stacks and stacks of books from the library, splashing around with friends, icepops anld sundae cones, perfecting your dive, cannonball contests, eau de chlorine, and the Greystone Gators. Right now, our swim team season is in full swing, and the Little Nguyens are practically living in their swimming trunks. This is what being a kid in the summertime in our house is all about. This is what they love. And I love watching them love it

You know I love simple. I have been labeled an idealist more than once in my life...and I am. To the core. I am a traditional person, and I am totally at ease with that.