Labor Day For All (just not mom)

Though summer officially has about a week to go and school has already been in session for over a week, Labor Day does mark the end of the pool season. So, for our family, Labor Day signifies the end of the summer.

Speaking of Labor Day. Ever Curious Claire (you know, like Curious George) asked me the other day what we were supposed to be celebrating on Labor Day. She's all about the holidays, especially after recently learning that they generally mean she gets the day off school. After giving her an explanation of the holiday, she responded with:

"So, Daddy gets a break from his work, and I get a break from all (all???) the work I do at school, right."

I replied in the affirmative.

Then she said, "Well, mom, I guess this holiday isn't one for you since you don't do any work to get a break from."


Er.


I decided to just end that conversation lest I grow horns and start throwing things.


Anyway, back to our weekend.

Thankfully, ol' Mother Nature got back on track after a week of freaky fall-like weather the week before (because temperatures in the 70's really is freaky at this time of year in our neck of the woods), and the Labor Day weekend warmed back up into the mid 80's. The weather was beautiful; the water was freezing (due to the aforementioned freaky fall temperatures the week before). This was no deterrent for my kids, however.

Claire modeling her favorite pool look. She's ready for the runway.

There's nothing like some pool noodle horseback riding. Notice Claire's hair is still dry. The water was actually really cold, and it took awhile for her to get up enough nerve to go under.

But she did.

Bathing Beauties

Claire has had a love/hate relationship with water for pretty much all her life. I posted here about the lessons she took at the beginning of summer and how amazed I was that she was finally able to put her head under and swim with only the aid of a float belt.

I'd say this video does a good job displaying how much she has grown as a swimmer since then.

Watch out, Michael Phelps.

And, while swimming in the pool is fun, eating a picnic lunch poolside may be the highlight of the day, especially when your parents dig around in the car and scrounge up enough money for an ice cream sandwich. Pure kid bliss.

And, now, just to give evidence that my hard-working husband does indeed get a break every now and again. I present the following picture.

Precious, ain't it?

There are no pictures of me because, well, seeing as how I do no work, it wasn't my holiday to observe, remember?