This. THIS! Oh, yes, I did get 8 children to the pool, including swimsuits, towels, goggles, coolers of water and popsicles, folding chairs, and everyone sunscreened by 9:00 AM on the 4th of July! This may be one of my greatest ever parental achievements!
There was one motivating factor-- SHADE. I wanted the spot under the big red umbrella. As soon as the pool gates opened, we RAN for the shade and we spread out fast. How selfish of us. 
I was rather daunted at the idea of taking all the kids swimming without Abe there to help. But thanks to the older kids helping with younger ones, it was quite manageable and dare I say, it was even fun. Peter seems quite happy in the water so we may be spending some more time at the pool this summer.
Cousins getting ready for diving for dollars. Poor Faith sustained a kick to the eye during the feeding frenzy of children searching for money. This may have been her last year participating in this barbaric, questionable use of city tax dollars.
Poor Peter. The activity didn't go so well for him. His obsession as of late is money. Coinage. He collects it all over the house. He steals it from siblings. We try to get him to keep it in a plastic ziploc bag to keep it out of Greta's reach. He carries it around all day. He sleeps with it. He talks about it. He cries about it. He takes it on car rides.
So when he saw the staff walking around the pool throwing tons of coinage into the pool and then they blew the whistle that the time had begun for the kids to get in and try to collect it--- Peter refused to get in. We were confused. We thought he would love to participate.
Instead he ran back to our belongings and found the coin he had brought with him (safely stored in the cup holder of a folding chair), then he ran back to the pool and THREW HIS COIN INTO THE POOL while all the kids were trying to pick up coins. This picture was taken after he saw a girl pick up the coin he had just thrown in. NOT HAPPY.
Near the end Bethany got in the water and helped him get three "monies". That seemed to assuage his bitter feelings.
My big kids are so busy with jobs and summer camps and such that I feel like I'm hardly seeing them this summer. I was glad they wanted to come along to the pool.
George going off the high dive.
Elinor is on a swim team, but it was probably nice for her to get to be in a nice pool without having to swim laps. The morning at the pool was great and then we went home to rest and recuperate.
Then we went and did what I swear every year I'm not going to do again. At the hottest (100 degrees plus) part of the day we went to the main city park for the haystack dive.
Seriously, the dumbest activity ever. Once again they divide the kids by ages and then throw masses of candy, coinage, trinkets and bobbles onto a tarp covered in wood shavings.
WHY? Who thought of this? Who approved this?
But whatever. We go because the kids like it and it's the 4th of July and I'm a sucker for free stuff.
It was hot and rather miserable, and yet, I sure do enjoy the company of these little people.
I adore this picture of George walking back to the car with his hoard of haystack booty.
Team Middle Kids.
A private fireworks show that evening with the Schramms.
Abe worked all day and then met up with us at their house. It was my job to stop by a fireworks stand and pick up our contribution to the evening's pyrotechnics show.
Unfortunately for the group, I could only bring myself to purchase lame, nervous mom fireworks-- Pop-Its, smoke balls and parachutes.
Perhaps Abe will want to do all the fireworks purchasing next year. Luckily the other two families brought some rocking aerials and it was an impressive show.
She looks a little nervous in this picture, but she liked the fireworks. Or at least, she like me snuggling with her during the show.
Peter and Kate liked the fireworks, but they liked them better from behind the safety of the mailbox pillar.
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