Tag Archives: pool

Party Like It’s 1985 (or 1776, Take Your Pick)

Happy birthday to the USA, and to my bro-in-law, Brent, who celebrated their 239th and 30th birthdays over the weekend, respectively! We did our best to celebrate both, attending four parties which is totally unlike us. 
First up: a party for Brent turning 30! We arrived late because the Hen napped for forever (loving his long naps these days so I can’t complain) and missed out on Sip and Flip but made it for some Beer Frisbee and swimming. It was really fun hanging out without the Hen (who was being spoiled by the grandparents) even if Brent had a bit too much fun (& scotch). 

Saturday afternoon and evening we got together with some of Keith’s high school friends who are some of the nicest people ever. The Hen had some playmates (all boys for once!), and he loved splashing in the pool and kicking the ball around. We also trekked up to Clearwater Beach to see the fireworks and hang out with some of our fav Clearwater friends and family. The Hen had fun splashing in the pool with Uncle Brent (pretty much the only photos I took over the weekend) until the thunderstorm kicked them out. We couldn’t stay for the fireworks because the Hen needed to go to bed and he absolutely cannot sleep if there’s a party happening in his vicinity (he thinks the party is for him). We did see some lovely, colorful fireworks on our drive home, however. 

   
    
   
Sunday night, Margo and Tom hosted Brent’s family birthday dinner where we ate all of his favorite things (including one of my favs – shrimp)! Henry loved helping Brent open his gifts and playing with the Walbolt/Rosenblatt/Meister clan. We had a blast all weekend, but our introverted selves definitely are looking forward to a much quieter one coming up. 

Field Trip Friday to the Pool

For yesterday’s Field Trip Friday, Henry and I visited the Highland Family Aquatic Center in Largo and had so much fun we didn’t even take pictures of the place until afterwards from a distance. This place is great! There are a two pools, one for bigger kids and adults with a 3-story speed slide and a 214 ft corkscrew water slide (you have to be 48 in tall and a swimmer to use) so clearly this was not the pool for the Hen. The pool we used (& loved) had a zero-depth entry area meaning Henry could walk right in. He could also walk all around this area with its play structures, 3 slides (small frog, blue corkscrew, and yellow enclosed), animal squirters, and waterfall-like fountains. Separated by a rope divider, the other section of pool has two corkscrew slides you need to be able to swim to go down. Henry definitely wanted to try them out, and couldn’t seem to figure out why we weren’t going over there. There is a variety of seating, from picnic tables to lounge chairs to covered areas, and the bathrooms and changing areas were very clean. There is also a snack bar and shop for aquatic apparel, but we didn’t check these places out.


Three mornings a week (MWF), from 9:35 to 10:35am, they offer Itty Bitty Splashtime for the littles under five for $1.50 a person. The fountains we kept off for the first half, which really helped Henry adjust to the water because when they turned on, it was like a super soaker nightmare…no one was safe. And Hen thought it was awesome, yet scary. Overall, it was a mini-water park, perfect for my little Hen.

 

Afterwards, we ate our snack at the playground behind the pool area and played there for a while because it is awesome and in the shade. We will definitely be back to both places.

 

no shoes!