The First Swim of the Year!

Cold.

I, personally, am a wimp. I'm either "boiling" or I'm "freezing" and the "just right" range is quite small. Maddie, on the other hand, is a kid and most kids don't care too much if it's boiling or freezing!! The weather is turning quite gorgeous in Shanghai and thankfully it's not "boiling" in my mind. This is "just right" as far as air temperature goes! Water temperature though? In my book - it's FREEZING!

Maddie came home today and heard her friends screaming in what I think was delight over at the swimming pool. Maddie was waiting by the door with Ms. Zhou when we came home around 4:30 with her swimsuit in hand. Apparently, the peer pressure of her friends screams were just too enticing so we grabbed a beach towel that had been collecting dust for way too long and headed across the street to the swimming pool. I was having one of those "we're the luckiest people in the world moments" because here I live on the golf course across from the playground that is behind the house that is dedicated to kids which is next to the swimming pool with a lock and a lifeguard 12 hours a day!

Maddie saw Ri-Ri in the kiddy pool and immediately asked for me to blow up her purple float. As always, these two see each other and it's absolute glee. I don't know how else to describe it. She talks - she listens - she laughs and Ri-Ri does the same thing. It will be great having both of them in school next year! She swam long enough to turn blue and then jumped out, shivering uncontrollably. But then she braved it one last time before heading over the swings with Ri-Ri. That was the most perfect way to come home from school and the most perfect way to spend your time before dinner!

So, that was the first swim of the year! Swim lessons are hopefully on the horizon as I can tell that there will be many, many more of these to come!