the last weekend of summer

Saturday morning the kids woke bright and early and voted to go swimming at Knight's Pond, our favorite local swimming spot. Mary wanted to go to Craig's Pond with her bucket since hundreds of frogs make their home near the beach, but I didn't want to fight the crowds (think a few dozen people, not thousands, at say, Daytona Beach) and the 1/4 mile walk from the parking area. So off we troop with life jackets, inflatable boat and all, only to turn around when Will asked, "Did someone pack the pump?"

We didn't realize until we got settled on our blanket that we also forgot to pack towels and the air was a little nippy to say the least. But despite blue toes and shivering the children jumped and splashed, paddled and swam for over an hour.

What does the savy momma do with 5 cold and wet children? "Let's go into town and buy some new towels," I suggested, "We'll leave our stuff here and come back." Fortified with chili cheese hotdogs we returned to the pond (which saw a steady stream of kayackers, swimmers in wetsuits, and the tacky campers who had moved in for the weekend with 4 cars, bikes, an ATV, a paddle boat, and 5 tents) and didn't leave until it was time to head home for supper.