Summertime

A few weeks ago, Claire and I found ourselves on a hot Sunday with not much to do. With Dan away for a few hours I certainly didn't want to hole Claire up in the house all day and at the same time I wasn't sure I had the energy to do any heavy park-playing or anything like that.

Then it dawned on me -- kiddie pool time! Without telling her why we were going (on the off chance there were no affordable pools, I didn't want to break her perfect heart) we headed off to Meijer. Sure enough -- big inflatable "family pool" -- on sale for $15. Pretty little rainbow bathing suit -- on sale for $5.99. Air compressor to blow up pool -- $10 (although Claire didn't understand why I couldn't just blow it up myself as I searched and searched for a reasonably-priced compressor).

While she was taking a nap I got the pool filled up with air and water. It was too cold, so I spent about an hour taking pots full of hot water outside to the pool, lest Princess Claire catch a chill.


So she played outside the pool for a while, until it warmed up enough.

But all of the above -- more than worth it. The pure joy that emanated from this child on this day -- priceless. Not to mention we had an awesome girl day.








At one point, her old soul kicked in and Claire magically became 20.



But before I knew it, she was back to being 5, practicing her best Charlie's Angels moves.




























After a while, Dan arrived to find his babes in bikinis. And, smart man that he is, he decided to join in the fun.

Life is good.