Burning Hot

This August has been unseasonably cool. Between the dipping temperatures and the seemingly constant rainstorms, we haven't been to the pool since we returned from our Florida adventure. Finally the weather turned in our favor yesterday with hot and dry air. I decided that we should spend one of the final days of summer vacation at the water park to enjoy what is perhaps the last outdoor swim of the year.

Robby (and Timmy by default) were excited about going to the water park because I've been promising a trip all year. In order to save my sanity and to ensure that Robby had fun, I allowed him to invite a friend on our adventure. I knew that he would probably enjoy breaking away from Mom to hang out with a buddy, but my reasoning went beyond his preferences. Robby and Timmy have a rather large age gap. While I know it won't always be an issue, right now there is a huge difference between the abilities and activities of a three year old compared to an 11 year old.  Allowing Robby to invite a friend freed me up to take care of Timmy, who requires contact supervision in a crowded water park.

By early afternoon I was splashing in the toddler lagoon with Timmy while Robby and Janna were sliding and splashing in the deep pools.  The pair didn't even say goodbye after I paid the admission. Instead of making plans to meet up, they piled their towels and clothes in my arms and took off towards the corkscrew slides. I figured that they would know where to find me when they were hungry, which would be the only time I would see them until it was time to leave. 

I pushed all of our stuff into an overpriced locker and took off with Timmy to the Toddler Lagoon. I was halfway to the pool when I realized that the ground was painfully hot.  Timmy, who was walking in the tiny sliver of shade, wasn't bothered by the heat but my goodness it was hurting me. By the time I arrived at the pool I could already tell that I was developing heat blisters on my foot, and each step against the rough concrete pool floor only intensified my discomfort. 

After two hours I couldn't take the foot pain anymore and corralled Timmy to the Lazy River. There we floated for another hour, providing my foot with some much needed relief.  As predicted, Robby and Janna found me when they wanted money for ice cream. I felt like a fire walker as we made our way back to the locker! 

By the time I finally sat down and put on my shoe I realized that my foot was now completely covered with a series of blisters. I told the kids that it was time to go and I hobbled out to the car. I'm not sure why the asphalt was so hot yesterday, but the pool needs to do something to keep it cooler for their patrons. I'm definitely going to be feeling the impact of our pool adventure for several days.