I broke a vow that I made to myself today. I promised myself that I would not attempt the pool without an extra set (or three) of hands this summer, but when I was faced with the prospect of another hot, hot day cooped up in the house I caved. I had very low expectations and I knew it would be stressful (for me), but I also knew that the kids would have a great time and love me forever. The promise of wearing a certain four year old out for a decent nap was pretty alluring as well.

We tend to encourage our kids to not be afraid of the water and are always anxious to have them swimming around, but I'll say that I'm actually pretty thankful that my non-swimmers are completely content to play on the stairs of the pool. I'm in no hurry to get them off the stairs. Funny how the parental desire for over-achievers tends to level out after a few kids...

Anyway, I was hoping to document my brave adventure a little more, but reality knocked some sense into me shortly after we arrived. I was already short a few hands and having one tied to a camera wasn't going to work too well. I did manage to snag one.

We all made it home alive (and even had fun) joy...