Splish Splash

We have been enjoying some time outdoors with water this month.  It is officially summer, which means we are now in almost perpetual heat advisory mode until September.

A few weekends ago, we had a giant water play date with cousins.  We gave the kids squirt guns and water balloons.  We turned on the sprinklers, thinking they would like to run in them, but it only scared them and they ran away.  They did like being squirted with the spray attachment on the hose however.  Mr. One and Mr. Two have asked several times if we can do this again.

Mr. One and Mr. Two took a session of swim lessons at one of the city pools and are making progress.  At least they only cried one day instead of the whole time (like last year) and they started gaining confidence in the water.  This was a huge step for Mr. One, who has been very afraid of the water.  He had a sweet high school aged boy as his teacher who was incredibly encouraging and helped him overcome some of his fears.  He even ventured away from the wall in the deep end and tried to swim a little bit out to his teacher, which is something he wouldn't do last year and was very worried about doing this year.  I truly feel like he had the perfect teacher for him.  That was a huge blessing. I'm going to try and get them into at least one more session this summer.

Earlier this week, we went out to Tempe Town Lake to their splash pad.  I love this place!  It was just big enough for the kids to wander and have fun, but small enough for me to keep a good watch on them.  There is a small water slide, some waterfall features and lots of puddles and squirting water.  There is a large shaded picnic area nearby for eating.  There are lifeguards on duty as well.  I only wish there was a bit more shaded seating for the adults right on the edge of the water part.  My older two boys loved playing and I had a hard time getting them to leave. 

Mr. Three didn't like it so much (I guess it was too much like a giant shower for him), and he fell and hit his little noggin pretty hard on the ground.  He was much happier being carried. 

Next time, I'll wear my suit and cover up so I can get wet and help Mr. Three better.  We'll bring lunch too, so that we can stay longer and play.

I have a feeling we will be spending more time this summer playing in the water!

* all pics from Tempe Town Lake Splash Playground