Pool Season is Open!

It's the first day of the pool season, so of course we went to the pool! 

The poor kids were put to work doing chores all morning while I sat and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote out nearly 10,000 words for a final project (between yesterday and today, so not 10,000 words today but many, many words today). And in the afternoon we finally made it to the pool—where we met up with a homeschooling swim team family...and then when they left another homeschooling swim team family arrived.

The water wasn't terribly cold this year, and the kids all played for much longer than I thought they would.

I selected bathing suits for the younger four based mainly on visibility. That bright yellow is impossible to miss, whether at the pool or at the beach! I was so happy when I found a swimming suit for Phoebe that matched the boys. 

The older girls were harder to find suits for. I finally defaulted to Zoë's same Target swimsuit from a couple of years ago...just in a bigger size. Honestly, it's kind of nice that they still have the same style and pattern available. Sometimes I feel like they cycle through styles so quickly.

Rachel and Miriam picked out their own suits (we're all fans of covering up rather than having to apply sunscreen everywhere all the time). 

The swim trunks I picked out for the boys came with a built in rash guard short under the trunks. Benjamin is wearing his in this picture...Alexander is wearing his jammers from last year because his swim trunks will not stay up on his itty-bitty waist.

I had to buy the kids team suits this year and when I was on the phone with the lady at the store, trying to decide what size to order for my kids, she kept asking me what size of clothes they were in. And I was like, "Lady, you do not understand exactly how slender I'm talking..."

"Just tell me what size of clothes they're in."

"I have to take in their pants. Always."

"What size?"

"Fine. Size 8."

"Okay, then I recommend a size 26."

"He still fits in his jammers from last year and they say size 4 on them."

"What brand?"

"Speedo."

"And all it says is 4?"

"All it says is 4."

"That would be a size 20. We're not stocking that. They've probably stretched out from last year, though. Let's try him in a 22."

But, seriously, though size 20 is size 4. As in the size for a 4 year old. And that's what he wore to the pool today.

Alexander definitely still wears size 4 shorts. But he needs his pants to be longer...so we just cinch in the waist.

For Zoë the woman told me that the stretch through the torso is most important, but I'm still worried about the circumference of the leg hole. Phoebe, for example, tried on her new swimming suit and cried big ugly tears when we tried to convince her that she was big enough to wear a swimming suit without a swim diaper because she was really grossed out by the idea of not wearing under garments of some sort. But I convinced her to at least try the swimming suit and...boy, were those leg holes ever gappy! 

So I told her she could wear a little (washable) swim diaper with her suit, which made her happy. 

I'll have to figure out a less soggy solution for that problem because she really doesn't need to wear a swim diaper.

Anyway, I talked with the team manager today (one of those homeschooling swim team moms I mentioned earlier) and she said Zoë could just wear her plain blue suit that we know fits her or she can throw on a pair of the boys' jammers under or over her suit or something. We're not too strict on dress codes at city meets (it's regionals where they get picky).

We're looking forward to a long summer of swimming and sitting poolside!