The Last Day of Summer

Wednesday was our last day at the pool. Since I start work on Monday, and we had other things going on Thursday and Friday, Wednesday was our end of summer. We have a pool at Mountain Park that is about five minutes away from our house, and it has been wonderful this summer. I actually have a decent tan for the first time in a long time! The pool is set up for kids, and so the boys have had a blast. Unfortunately, there have been occasional maintenance issues, so we've had to go elsewhere. We heard about another really nice one at Bethesda Park that is about fifteen minutes away from us, and we've really liked going there to. That one is completely indoors, so we can go even when it's raining outside!

So Wednesday, when we headed to the pool we were once again faced with the dreaded "Outdoor Pool Closed" sign. This time, though, instead of going to Bethesda, I decided to head to one that's south of us at Lenora Park. I had a general idea of where it was at, but I wasn't completely sure. I knew the road it was on, but it was alot further away than I thought. It took us close to a half-hour to get there. On top of that, I was very disappointed when I got there. I've often complained about the lifeguards at Mountain Park being very strict about the rules. Technically, both boys are to always be within arm's reach, since they are both under six. That proves to be a little impossible when Matthew is ready to try anything, and Nathan prefers to try nothing. I keep them fairly close, though, and I've only had to have Matthew brought to me once. At this pool at Lenora Park, the lifeguards went the other way. There were kids who were probably 10 - 12 years old running and pushing in the one foot section of the pool, and the lifeguards didn't say anything. It was very frustrating, since I try not to get in "teacher" mode when I'm not actually teaching. The difference that I saw between the two pools was very simple. At Mountain Park, the lifeguards are either in the water or right along the side of the pool. At Lenora Park, the lifeguards were all sitting in lifeguard chairs with umbrellas above them. While I'm sure it was more comfortable, it separated them from the kids in the pool and made them a lot less inclined to get down and intervene. I told Jeremy when we got back that it was fun, but I don't think we'll be heading back there again. A half-hour is too long to drive for that.