Pool!

I think I might have mentioned before the unfortunate news that our local pool that we went to all the time last summer is being turned into an apartment building and is not opening this year. It's very annoying because it was really the perfect place to spend a hot summer day. So I've been on a quest to find a different pool to go to this summer. Someone told me there is a pool in Kfar Saba, so this morning I drove by it to check it out. I went in to find out about prices and it looked really nice and the prices definitely reflected that!! I was willing to try it out one time just to see, so Tali and I planned to meet there in the later afternoon with the kids. Then, my friend Sharon called me and said she found out about another pool in Ramot HaShavim, which is a little moshav about 10 minutes from here. The prices were much more reasonable so we decided to go there instead. It was definitely not as glamorous looking as the Kfar Saba one, but it was perfectly fine. The big pool had a good sized shallow end that the bigger boys could more or less stand in and they had an amazing time. I told Simon he could do whatever he wanted and stay in an inner tube or not. He stayed in it at first and then decided he didn't need it and he did a lot of great swimming. So I guess the swimming lessons are paying off after all! Eli loved being in the water as usual. He mostly stayed in his inner tube but then he and Uri ran off and put their tubes back at our chairs and then came charging into the pool, obviously forgetting that they don't know how to swim! Tali and I caught them before they got down all the steps and sent them back for their tubes.
We ended up ordering pizza to the pool and having dinner there and then showering the kids there so when we got home, it was straight to bed. I love days like that!
Earlier in the day, before the pool, I took the boys for haircuts. When I told Eli we were going he said "oh, I like haircuts. Haircuts not hurt me." Excellent, I thought he had outgrown his fear and would be fine. I was so wrong. He was happy to watch Simon's haircut but then he freaked out when it was his turn. I had to hold him on my lap and try to keep him from flailing too much and the whole time he was sobbing "I want Daddy...I want Daddy..." It was very sad but then he got a popsicle at the end and he was happy. And I tricked Simon and I feel kind of guilty about it. The haircut place has a nice selection of crappy toys and Simon usually gets to pick something out after a haircut. He couldn't really decide what he wanted and then suddenly said he wanted a popsicle. I decided to take a chance and I said "it's a popsicle or a toy. You can pick but you can only have one or the other." He chose a popsicle!! Much to my delight...because the popsicle comes free with the haircut!