After the busiest Saturday we could remember, we took it slow and easy on Sunday morning and afternoon. But we still wanted to get out and have a fun Father's Day activity. Because the kids had such a fantastic time at Oak Mountain during Husband's 5k, we decided we head back with our swimsuits, puddle jumpers and sunscreen!
It would have been perfect if I hadn't have gotten into a verbal altercation with a man who's kid hit me with a sand ball! klassy, I know. Here's my unsolicited advice to this "super dad": When your kid throws sand and hits me with it and you're watching us and you don't say anything, I WILL. I will say, "Dude, you hit me with sand. Stop it." With an appropriate mean tone. And 10 minutes later when you, Super Dad, finally muster the gumption to walk up to the water's edge to tell me not to parent your child, I will tell you, "Your kid is a brat for throwing sand at a woman" and "you're a bad dad for not correcting him when you saw it happen." and now I just rehashed the entire thing. double klassy. And I'm not deleting it. triple klassy.
Anyway, we all four had a fun time. Son floated on his back and stomach and kicked a lot when were were out in "the deep." I was proud of him for not being scared of the water. Daughter was a little less adventurous but I was able to get her to at least tread water with her legs. It definitely surprised me that she was the more timid of the two.
Then we headed closer to shore and I remembered to take a few pictures with the camera!
walking in
notice how much more crowded it was compared to 8am on Saturday morning!
this was about as close as I could get them for a picture
lounging (Husband and Daughter are both sitting) Daughter was a lot more comfortable in water that was less than waist deep. So we let her do her thing. She'd sit on the bottom and sift through the sand for rocks.
cheese.
After about an hour and a half in the water the kids both mentioned they were ready to get towels and change clothes. It's so nice when you're not having to drag two toddlers out of the water kicking and screaming when it's time to go. I used to visit Oak Mountain a lot before I met Husband and hadn't been since then, so it was nice to get back (except to drop off the baby birds). The water was actually a lot cleaner than I remember it. So that was nice. We drove around a little before exiting the park and both kids said they wanted to come back and hike soon. That'll be fun.
7 comments:
Question: Several people have mentioned that they can't post comments on my blog. Any suggestions about what settings to use and privacy or whatever? Pamela thought you might know! :-)
Looks like you all had a blast! I didn't know you could swim at Oak Mtn, but then again havent been there for at least ten years. Good to know.
Question: Do the puddle jumpers fit Finn pretty well? We just bought some for Jack, but he can take his arms out of them. Is this a non issue once they get in the water?
I almost had a verbal altercation with a man at the pool who was rough housing with his teenage kids in the pool and almost pushed Lily under TWICE and kept splashing Jacob and then muttered about taking the baby out of the pool when I gave him a mean look because we were there first. I refrained. I hope Mother Judson smiled down on me!
As for the fits about leaving, have you tried giving them a time limit? I'll tell Lily we are leaving in 5 minutes (it didn't used to matter if it was really 2 or 20, but she knows the difference now!). I think it gave her time to mentally prepare for going. If she threw a fit, I didn't feel bad because she knew what was coming. The train table at the bookstore was a particular problem, but now she knows that pitching a fit doesn't matter. It really helps alot for her to know what's coming next. We do it with almost everything now...5 minutes until we take a bath, 10 minutes until bedtime. I get it; I would be really mad if someone just stepped into the middle of what I was doing and said, "Stop right now. We're going to do this instead." Maybe it would help with your kids too!
Raylene: I commented on your blog.
Rita: They actually don't fit him very well yet. Last year, Ry's was the same way and now hers fits great. So we figure next year he won't be able to pull his arms out. Also, after I put the camera away, we actually put his Sea Monster (that's what we call his Puddle Jumper) UNDER this swim shirt and just let the swim shirt hold it in place. He looked like a football player in full pads but it stayed on and he could move around well.
Jennifer: time limits only seem to work at places we go to a lot like McWane or the park or library. When it's somewhere new and exciting they are NEVER ready to leave. Usually, "It's time to go do (insert new fun next activity)" is the only surefire way to get them to leave a place willingly
P.S. I have always been non confrontational and would nearly cry every time I was at odds with someone. Post child that has gone to hell. Good for you for stepping up.
Good for you for standing up to "it!" ;-)
Ditto everyone else's comments...good for you for speaking up. I would have said something too but then probably would have been pissed about it for the rest of the day and might have even let it ruin my trip to the river. Hopefully your experience was better :)
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