All I Do is Swim, Swim, Swim, Swim, Swim

Sorry for the corny title. I just re-watched the Lip Sync Battle between Jimmy Fallon and Emma Stone and I cannot get that song out of my head.

Life lately has been all about water activities! Whether we're making water cocktails in the wading pool at home or drooling over the water slides at the aquatic center, our afternoons have been spent playing in some form of water. It's already in the 90's here in Missouri, which means if you're going to be outside you need to be wet because it is balmy.

Obviously, the worst part about swimming at home is waiting for the pool to be blown up and filled with water. You can't see her face here, but the anticipation of going down that slide is killing her. Hurry up, Dad!

Slides are this kid's jam. If she goes down once, she has to go down at least 10 times. We're attempting to teach her how to hold her feet up so she will go fast, but for now she mostly just scoots down a little at a time.

When it's cloudy or we don't feel like dragging the other pool out, we let Tay get her feet wet in what I refer to as the turtle pool. It's easy to clean and provides approximately 18 minutes of entertainment, which is about how long it takes for her to start losing interest in something. As for me? The sight of that mini bun and Tay's chubby thighs in a swimsuit make all the preparation and cleanup completely worthwhile. I absolutely love watching this girl sing, laugh, and splash in the water.

Regardless of how much fun she's having, Tay is always up for a snack break. Favorite poolside snacks include popsicles, fruit snacks, and watermelon, all super sticky yet summer-worthy. Thankfully, a quick dip in the pool makes for the world's best wet wipe!

When it comes to the city pool, Jake handles the chaos much better than me. I'm a nervous wreck with all of the bigger kids running around completely unaware of all of the smaller kids they can (and do) knock over. Since Tay hasn't fully mastered the stairs (especially wet ones) and the lifeguards won't allow parents on the play place, we resort to sticking our hands and head under the water spouts. We do that for about 10 minutes, climb in and out of the pool for another 5-10, and spend the rest of the time snacking on our beach towels with our feet in the water. The tot has a blast and is completely wiped by the time we leave, which means pool trips are totally worth the $7 admission fee and the hour spent packing and unpacking (which is equivalent to how long we usually stay at the pool).

No matter where we are or what size pool we're in, it's safe to say our babe loves the water. We'll be making our annual trip to the river in just a couple of weeks to celebrate the 4th of July, so I'm hoping Taylor will tolerate wearing her life jacket long enough for us to get in a few good boat rides and bury our toes in a sand bar or two. Summer is in full swing in the Midwest and we are taking full advantage!