We went swimming at the Splash Park today.
It was fun, eventually. I’ve been trying for almost a week to
get Lex to go, but he kept saying “no thank you. I’ll tell you
when I want to go.” So yesterday morning he announced that he
was ready go to! Unfortunately, for him, I had playdate plans
for the day and swimming was not an option. So this morning he
said it would be ok to go, so we did.

The experience started out a bit rocky. The check-in desk
was crowded and we had to wait awhile. At one point Eve started
to walk away and I asked Lex to take her hand and bring her
back over to me. Two seconds later I’m filling out a form,
she’s screaming, and Lex is dragging her, by the mitten
attached to her jacket, across the floor, flat on her back.
Meanwhile a bus with 30+ kids unloads and everyone clamors for
the pool. Then we finally get to the locker room and I get Eve
and I changed and Lex decides he does not want to swim. No way,
no how. So we went out to the pool with me and Eve in bathing
suits and Lex in his PJs (footy ones even!). He got comfortable
on a bench where he could see me and I could see him and I took
Eve over to the Splash Park pool. This place is really cool!
The Splash Park pool is 1ft deep all the way around and has a
huge playground-like structure in the middle with a twisty
slide, fountains, and lots of things to do. I dipped Eve’s feet
in to the nice warm water and she wailed!! “Go home now, just
want to play at home now!” Sigh. So we went back to the bench
with Lex and I started wondering if they offered refunds for
the day pass (I had just paid $17 for this experience!)

So we sat and watched for awhile, which is
really what I think he needed. Between the sounds of the water
fountains, the kids screaming, the bright colors and warm air,
I think he had a pretty strong case of sensory overload. Eve
too, I’m sure, but I think her main problem was that it was nap
time and I was asking her to play hard instead. So we sat and
watched. Lex kept telling me that he wanted to watch me and Eve
play in the water, and I kept saying Eve did not want to play.
After awhile he decided to put on his bathing suit and show Eve
how to play in the water :) He came up with this idea on his
own. We got him dressed and made our way back into the pool. He
LOVED it! She cried a bit, but I slowly eased her in by sitting
on the edge, then in just a bit, etc. I told her could splash
and kick and make a big mess… just what I always tell her not
to do in the bathtub :)

After awhile
they were both in and having a blast. I was happy that I didn’t
waste $17! I could go on and on with details of their silly
antics, but I think I’ll stop now. They are supposed to post
the swim lesson schedule the first week of March and are
planning to start lessons on the 16th. I hope, hope, hope I can
get something that works for us, timing wise.