I want to swim away but don't know how, sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean. Let the waves up take me down, let the hurricane set in motion- yeah.

Take her to the pool, she said. It will be fun, she said. 

Post-swim...in the locker room... If you think this pic looks a little "8 Mile"- you're right. I was having a moment.

Um, yea. 

I had been asking some of the girls at work for suggestions of things to do with Evie. DC is full of activities, but many of them are more appropriate for warmer weather. I really enjoy taking Ev for walks, but it's just been so darn cold. I also want to take her to the museums, but again- the weather and trying to transport an infant down to the museums is no small feat. My friend Amy had suggested taking Evie to the pool. Hey, that's not a bad idea... 

So, one of the great things about living in DC is access to free pools! There are a few indoor free pools around the District, and several outdoor pools. Since it is like -123918230198 degrees here right now, outdoor pools are out of the question. So, we found a lovely indoor pool up in Tenleytown- it even has a kiddie pool area. Perfect.

So, last week I bought Ev a bathing suit and swim diaper at Target. I decided that this would be the week we would finally check out the pool. While she was napping I had packed her diaper bag with everything I thought would be essential {read:  EPIC-freaking-failure right here... I must've been high on excitement about our impending adventure because I totally failed that... more on that later}. After Evie woke up from her morning nap (she now sleeps over 1.5 hours y'all...freaking finally, but anyway...), I got her changed into her diaper and bathing suit and off we went. 

Fun fact about DC that I have yet to grasp after 3 years of living here... Parking is a BITCH! And, it's never free! It's always metered, or valet, or some expensive ass parking lot/garage. It's never like it was in good ol' Ohio or Texas- a standard, free parking lot. Novel concept, DC. Anyway, so of course in all of my excitement I forgot change for the meter out front of the "Aquatic Center"- I sound so regal saying that... "Aquatic Center" purrrr... I digress. 

So, thankfully they have these great apps for your phone that you can use to pay the meter... Dammit. I deleted my app some time ago trying to make space for all of my baby pictures. Grrrrr! Ok, so I re-download the app... whilst Evie is getting pretty frustrated in the backseat. "There, there little baby, this will only take a minute 20 minutes..." Yes! The app is downloaded! Score! I put in my username, and password. Password invalid?! Oh geez, gosh how long has it been since I used this darn thing?! Ugh. Ok, well I will just call the phone number on the meter and pay by phone. So, I call, and get all the way through everything- "your credit card cannot be processed as this time." What?! UGH! 

Baby now having meltdown in backseat. 

I find 22 cents underneath my floormat, and throw it into the meter, get Evie out of the backseat and call the meter people, I think 22 cents gets me exactly 4 minutes of time. Super. So, I call the number and speak to a wonderful woman who tells me that to have her help me is going to cost me an additional $2... Fine, freaking fine. Who cares, lets just get this show on the road...I'm now down to 2 minutes on the meter, and I would be the one to get a ticket for running over by 30 seconds. She updates my credit card information and we are all set. Excellent. 

We sign in, and go down to the locker room. I'm feeling pretty damn proud of myself for changing us both into our bathing suits before we got there- what a time saver! I've got this shit on lock! Mama of the year- right here! I take off our outer clothes and throw everything in a locker... I of course didn't bring a lock, so I try my best to hide away anything of value underneath all of the baby's stuff in our locker- why I thought this would actually do anything, I have no idea? I think I was hoping that if someone did try to steal our stuff, they would have mercy when they saw all of this baby stuff on top. Criminals with a conscience... that's a new one. 

So, as we start to head out the pool I see the signs that you must rinse off in the shower before entering the pool... Ok, no problem. Go to the shower- um, is that trickle coming from the shower head that likely resembles Bob Dole's pee stream from an enlarged prostate, really supposed to rinse us off?? I move on to the next shower, same thing. Finally, I say screw it, and put some of the water trickling out in my hand and wet the baby's and my head. There. If someone stops us on the way out, at least we have a wet head so we tried, right? 

We have finally made it to the pool! EUREKA! It's so cute, and "beachy" with it's little tapered entrance, and fountains. How fu....Oh geez, the baby hates it. She hates the fountains. Hates being wet. Tears. Screams. Sadness. What? This can't be! I decide that it's too late, we can't turn back now, not after everything we've been through. We're getting in the pool, come hell or highwater (literally). 

So, with a little gentle coaxing, and some patience (of which, I have absolutely none)... she ended up really loving it. I would drag her, with her little feet kicking behind. And then I would flip her to her back... she hated that. So, we just spent a lot of time kicking around the pool. Some creepy old lady kept staring at us, and swimming over by us but not saying anything... other than that, it was quite pleasant. 

After about 25 minutes in the pool, Ev seemed to be a little cold. So, I thought that would be a good time to call it quits. I got us out of the pool, and then began to realize how poor my packing really was... I only brought 1 towel... So, that meant the baby was pretty well covered, but this bod couldn't also be covered with the towel- so I just did without (little did I know, this was to become a theme). 

I get us back to the locker room, and found a bathroom with a better shower. YES! I push the button, turn it on and quickly realize that it only has one temperature- cold. Great, ok, well I'll just quickly rinse the baby off and we will be on our way. I take off her swim diaper, only to find that she has shat all up in that thing... and now there is poo everywhere. Her legs. Her back. Our only towel. Great. Ok, well I've got to rinse her off. I hold her in the shower- screams! Screams of bloody murder. My only thought at that moment is- there must be acid coming out of shower head to warrant screams like this. I remove her from the water and stand under it alone, no, no acid... it's not warm, but it's not ice cold. I've got to rinse this crap off of her... I'm sorry, Ev... but you're going back in. More screams. Ok, well that rinse will just have to do. At least I got all the bits of corn off. Yes...I said corn. 

I go to the diaper bag to get her warm clothes, and realize I brought her a velour jumpsuit... but no onesie for underneath. Crap. Ok, well I'll get a new diaper on her and then get her zipped into this thing. Mental note: You are failing. Ok, now back to the task at hand. 

My skin is super sensitive to chlorine... but I am not sure how I'm to get myself showered and care for the baby at the same time. If I leave her to sit on the floor, she will likely fall over and crack her head open on the strictly tile floor. If I leave her strapped down on the baby changer she will likely wriggle her way out, fall off and crack her head open on the strictly tile floor. So, I decide to forgo my own shower and just change into my... wait a second... change into my what?! You've got to be kidding me... I didn't pack anything to change into? Oh geez louise. 

So, I throw on my clothes overtop my soaking wet bathing suit. Amazing. I hate my life in this moment. Like a lot. Mental note: I am an idiot. 

We get home, I give the baby a quick bath to make sure I've rinsed all the chlorine off. Get her bundled into something snuggly, and warm... and lay her down for a nap. She sure is cherubic when she sleeps. 

I have finally changed out of my wet bathing suit...thank goodness. And, I have also made plenty of mental notes for next time. Somehow, remembering her face while she was kicking and playing in the water has made the experience all worth it. 

Until next time...