Tigersharks Pool Party

Our neighborhood swim team had their pool party and team picture yesterday, June 10th. We got there promptly at 5pm, when we were told we were supposed to be there. A lot of the smaller kids were already there swimming in the pool, so they assistant coaches got them out of the water so they could line them up by age and sex. They went up to the 11-12 group, then the rest of the older kids got in one photo. There aren't that many older kids anyway.

Natalie immediately refused to get in line, as did most of the older kids. I felt sorry for some of the small kids that had to be in those lines, some in the sun, for a good half hour to hour waiting. Some of the more sun-sensitive kids should have worn their shirts because they were already red when they got in line. At least Eric seemed to enjoy himself because he got to talk to his friends who were sitting near him. Natalie chatted with her friends in the shade a distance away.

As per the tradition started last year by the current swim team parent representative, they took photos of smaller groups of kids as well as the big group photo of everyone. I didn't feel the need to take my own photos, but I had to take this one, because it is more of a closeup of Eric with a couple of his teammate friends.

Natalie was crabby anyway, but she complained after the Girls 11-12 group photo that she didn't like the photographer because she was telling Natalie and the other girls where to stand and that they should get their hair out of their face. I told her that I totally empathized with the photographer because it's hard to get big group photos. You have to space everyone out to get a good photo, and trying to get them to all look in one spot is a challenge. Natalie was probably upset with her because she didn't want Natalie to wear her shorts. Natalie gets a bit self-conscious about her eczema on the back of her legs, which isn't that bad right now. The photographer just wanted a uniform look, which does make for a better photo.

Patrick couldn't resist capturing a photo of some of the parents that had to take their own photo besides the designated photographer (the one in the middle in the dress). The official photo isn't up on the website yet, so I wasn't able to download it so I could post it here. I really empathized with the photographer here, having been in her place many times. It's so hard to get everyone to look at you, especially when the people in the photo have so many cameras to look at.

I had actually walked up to the pool while Patrick took the kids in the van. I needed some exercise and walking was a nice way to get it. So, when Natalie said she wanted to go home after the group photo, I told her she could walk back with me. She hesitated, but she did walk back home with me. Patrick and Eric stayed to eat the pizza, that finally arrived at 6:30pm. Natalie and I had left the pool around 6pm. Pictures took a whole hour.

Even though she was crabby all day, Natalie did get a little less crabby when we were walking together, she was even a little pleasant. I do miss chatting with her on the way to club swim practice. She had originally said she was going to club practice tonight (Thursday), so hopefully she'll feel up to it.