Today, however, I didn't get around to exercising until late afternoon. By then, the pool is PACKED with people! I went in to the cardio room and used one of the arc trainers for an hour workout. It is a low impact machine, so it is a good post-marathon workout. When I was done, I decided to shower and go float in the pool for a bit and people watch.
For those of you who may not know, we live exactly half a block from the rec center/pool. That was one of the many factors that helped us decide on this house when we were looking to buy 11 years ago. I fell in love with the idea of just walking over to the pool with the kids whenever I felt like it. And, boy, did we! The kids have spent a large chunk of every summer over there swimming, playing, lounging, and eating the treats sold at the snack bar. I have so many great memories of time spent with the kids there!
Now that the kids are older, we don't go as often. At least, not together. I miss that.
So, anyways, I was there by myself and thought I would just people watch.
It is really fascinating, actually. You see such a range of individuals! Everyone from the kid in the way to big for her so that it is sagging to her knees hand me down suit, to the overweight grandma who really shouldn't be wearing that bikini!
Side note... did you know that the bikini was named after the Bikini Islands because that is where the atom bomb testing was done and the swimsuit's inventor felt that this new revealing swimwear would cause an atomic bomb-like explosive reaction when it hit the market? Which it did.
There were swim lessons happening to my right and mommies with their babies to my left. The kids in the swim lessons were a wide range of daredevils and shrinking violets. Some kids never even got their heads wet, while others barely came up for air. Back in the day, my kids were in the latter category. They were natural-born fish. They couldn't help it with me for a mom. That wasn't always a good thing, though. There were several times that my kids failed their level and had to retake it because they simply wouldn't stick with their teacher or follow directions.
There was the line up of moms and dads sitting in chairs along the side of the pool waiting for lessons to be over. Some reading, some visiting, and some just napping in the gentle summer air. Then there were the moms scurrying around with the cameras, trying to document the moment for each of their four kids in varying different lesson levels. I have some of those pictures in the scrapbooks, but others are probably still in a box, somewhere.
There were the self conscious teenagers, traveling in groups where ever they went. Most of the girls wearing tankinis, because we live in Utah County, after all, and wearing a bikini is a SIN. The teens fall into two distinct categories... the 'I am here to play' group, and the 'I am here to be seen' group. You can probably picture both groups. The 'play' group are running off the diving board and doing their level best to do some kind of trick without belly flopping or losing a part of their swim wear. Their hair is plastered off to one side, but their smiles are genuine and fun to see. The 'here to be seen' group just wander from lounge chair to hot tub and back again in packs, constantly adjusting their suit to best advantage, 'fixing' their hair, and checking to see if anyone is looking at them. They make me chuckle. I like the first group better.
It wasn't long before afternoon thunderclouds began building in the sky above us. You know the 'silver lining' saying? These were rainbow lined. I kid not. It was super cool! But also it started to cool off, so I dried off and headed home to get ready for an early date night. Bill is leaving tomorrow to participate in the Wasatch Back Ragnar, so we had our Friday date on Wednesday instead.
Just so this won't be too boring (all words, no pictures), here are some photos from the internet of our rec center/pool.
The lazy river
The 'leisure' pool
The bottom of the water slide and splash pool.
The competition pool.
The competition pool with the bubble over it. It is a year round pool. The leisure pool is not, so it gets drained when summer is over.
The indoor track. When the machines are all in use, I run on the track.
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