Splish Splash

Monday began my children's two week holiday vacation from school, or, for those of you who don't speak parent; How do I keep my kids busy for 14 days?!

I started the week off with a trip to the Holland Community Aquatic Center (http://www.hollandaquaticcenter.org/). The family has been on the membership role for more than a year. We joined after I injured my leg and formal therapy was complete. Jayne wanted to keep me active through the winter and keep my muscles in shape, so she signed us up. Though expensive because we're out of the taxing district for the facility, the money has been worth it.

The center has a workout room with weights and cardiovascular equipment. But for the kids, the draw is the pools.

There is a play pool with a small slide and lots of falling and squirting water. It's shallow. Alyssa loves it, especially the tube slide.

Both Elspeth and Alyssa enjoy the whirlpool. It's just what it says -- a circular pool that spins you around like you're being flushed down a toilet. At least that's how the kids describe it.

Elspeth finds the full-sized pool a hoot. She sticks to the shallow end (about 4 feet deep) and floats on the doughnut-like toys or jumps from the side or dives about with her goggles. I've used the time to get them used to water and snuck in some basic swimming and floating techniques so they're while having fun. Sinister!

I'm so happy that the center has added hours for the holiday break. There weren't too many swimmers Monday, and we bugged out after 2 hours because some of the local schools that are still in session had their swim teams in to practice. There have been times the place has been shoulder-to-shoulder with people.

The aquatic center staff is always friendly and knows me by name. In fact, one of the employees saw me heading to the workout room last week and asked why the kids and I hadn't been in the pool the last few Sundays (our normal afternoon to go). I was impressed he remembered us, and told him either one of the kids or I had been sick the last few weeks, so we couldn't make it. So, he gave us a nice hello Monday when we returned.

Perhaps the best part of a few hours at the aquatic center is that the kids are toast afterward. They are tired and go right to bed at night and sleep soundly.

Thought: A pebble in the ocean must cause some kind of stir.