Adventure to the public pool

It's amazing to me the window of the world that one sees when visiting a public pool- I suppose especially one in Renton! Since yesterday was a scorcher of a day and I had no plans after going to the gym in the morning, I thought I'd brave taking Dylan to the Henry Moses Aquatic Center just down the hill from us. Mind you, I have driven by this pool/waterslide location almost daily for the four years we have lived here but I've never felt the need to visit....however with Dylan's newfound love of the water, I thought "what the heck, we'll give it a shot!"

We arrived at the aquatic center shortly after Dylan's nap around 3:15 PM. I thought we'd be able to pay and go right in, however because of the number of people that visit this pool facility they have sessions. The second session started at 3:30 so we waited in an already significant line of people until that time. At 3:30 we made our way through the line and purchased our tickets. At this point I'm thinking that I had successfully survived waiting in a huge line in 90 degree heat with a 2 year old.....I was wrong! After purchasing our tickets we had to wait in another line until 4:00 PM until the next session began. If I had not had a little boy who was so excited to swim I think I would have decided it was not worth it, but I'm pretty sure Dylan would have been heartbroken!

At 4:00 the gates were finally opened and we luckily found one chair to park our towel and bag (people were literally running to find spots) and headed to the water. I will just tell you this was one of the most multi-cultural places I've ever been- defintely people from every walk of life. I was wishing Kevin or any other adult had been there so that I could elbow them and say "check this dude out in the cut-off jean shorts with the raging mullet" but I had to keep them all to myself and take mental notes to share with Kevin when we got home.

In all it was worth the hassle and Dylan had an awesome time! He "swam" and played and splashed to his heart's content and probably swallowed a gallon of water in the process. I didn't get pictures because well...I was trying to keep him from drowning! I guess we'll have to go back someday... but not today!