Rainy Day Picnic

Hey y'all -

Yesterday, we met our friends Tracy and Jojo at the indoor pool/water park in town. The plan was to swim for a while and then have a picnic in the park. Because this is Missoula, we were the only people in the pool most of the time. There's a lot to be said for avoiding crowds - if you don't believe me, pay a visit to any ski area within four hours of Los Angeles. Remember: Never ski on a mountain where more than 50% of the people are wearing rental equipment. You're bound to get run over by a pack of idiots. I know that sounds snobby, but what can I say? Your dad's rubbing off on me.

Laney did great in the pool; you wore your swim jacket and floated out to the deep(er) end all by yourself, and hopped into the pool by yourself, too. Great progress! Hagen wore his cute little swimsuit for his first trip to the pool and was happy to float around and kick, kick, kick. No, there are no pictures from this part of the outing, because if you think I'm taking an expensive camera into a toddler water park, you're out of your gourd. Mail me one o' them waterproof disposables and I'll take all the pictures you want.

By the time we came out of the pool, it was sprinkling at the park. We had lunch outside and played anyway; still, it was a black and white kind of day:

Tracy had warned me that it's impossible to get a great photo of Jojo - like most five year-olds, she finds a way to sabotage every photo she's in. With all the chutzpah of a new photographer, I assured her she was wrong. "But no!" I said to myself, "She hasn't had her picture taken by ME!" As if Jojo's the Snake River and I'm Ansel Adams. Don't worry - when I play these conversations back in my head, I roll my eyes at myself.

Lesson learned: When a mother describes her child to you, listen to her. She ain't lying.

Love,
Mom