Summer Days

Independence Day in our neighborhood rivals Christmas for its party atmosphere and joy. The morning begins with a bike parade from the elementary school to the closest pool, a tidal wave of children and adults in red-white-and-blue. The middle school kids usually take the lead, careening around the first corner in a tipsy scrum that barely stays upright. Younger kids next, with parents jogging alongside to shout warnings or grab an errant handlebar. Then teens stroll by with dogs on leash, kids and dogs all spray painted in the colors of the flag. Adults stop by a certain driveway for a 10:00 beer, all ending up at the pool where lifeguard distributes otter pops and occasionally the fire truck stops by to squirt everyone with a hose.

Next stop the pool. We go home and change, fill the cooler and lube up with the sunscreen before heading out to relays and games at Mineral. With the shade tent in place from an early morning scramble to save seats, we kick back with friends to watch the kids dive for coins and soda cans, their goggled faces nearly split with glee. The kids get kicked out for the 21-and-over beer can grab, and our youngest danced with excitement to see Rob jump in and take part. Moms, Dads and grandparents grabbed a beer and snapped the tab immediately to the lifeguards' great dismay. "No beer in the pool!" they shouted.

Our family relay made the final heat but then placed fourth, after a valiant effort from William on his sprained ankle. I blew the inner tube relay for our team trying to loop it around my foot in an awkward backstroke, and was barely forgiven in time to purchase a hamburger and chips for lunch. A visiting man in bright pink trunks won the big splash contest by sacrificing his body for heroic belly flops. After the kids' water balloon toss we made our escape to veg out at home for a few hours. In the evening, a barbecue with friends and fireworks in the cul de sac topped off the exhilarating and exhausting day.

After a day of recovery we're embarking on the final week of swim team, with prelims for our kids on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The jury's still out on how much William will swim and on how many events the kids might have to re-swim at finals. Certainly no rest for the weary!