No SCREAMING at the Pool! (thank you Puddle Jumpers??)

Well, as you know, it gets pretty hot here in Texas. Hot as in ohhhh about 102 every afternoon. That means we have to go cool down at the pool a LOT. And yes, I drag all 4 kids up to the pool on my own. It's either that or have them stuck inside all day long in the house that we bought when we thought we would only have 2 kids, and that can make for some crazy madness. 

So the little 2 don a life preserver and the bigger 2 are on their own, in the "shallow" section of the pool (gets up to about 3 1/2 feet). #1 passed the swim test to go to the middle section of the pool (gets to about 4') but he's not a super good swimmer so he usually stays with us. 

Anyway, I'm rambling. Basically though, with the life preservers on I STILL have to constantly be within arms reach of the 2 little ones. 

...

The problem is....little L HATES HATES HATES HATES HATES HATES the pool. Like, big time. 

She screams like I'm murdering her every time we go. 

Every. time. 

As if we don't get enough attention already. 

And when I say scream like murder, it's as if she is possessed by the Devil type screaming. 

Until yesterday. *cue angelic voices singing in the background*

Yesterday, we had *no* crying, *no* screaming, and just a plain ol' good time at the pool. I was one happy mother.

I'm not sure if the Puddle Jumpers take any credit for this or not, but upon advice from several friends I ordered these and got them last weekend. We went to the pool once with them and the 2 littles got used to them a bit. I could tell they they liked them some, because the last several minutes of that trip to the pool, someone stopped screaming. 

Now, these "Puddle Jumpers" are only for 30-50 lbs, and we know that little L only weighs 20 lbs, but I was going to try anything. As long as I have her with me right there, she can do ok with it, I just have to adjust it fairly frequently. #3 fits it fine, but I still feel like it rides up and I would not be comfortable letting him in super deep water without him in an arms reach. However, he is much braver with it on and will "swim" back and forth across the shallow 1 1/2 feet of water like he owns the place now. 

Anyway, yesterday here was the face that little L had:

ALL smiles. In fact, she and #3 jumped into the water over and over to me and even floated on their own without clinging to me, or little L screaming. She even laid to float on her back and put her head back in the water. I think hell might have frozen over that day. 

The result was the least stressful trip to the pool that I've had in a bit, with as reasonably less attention than we've ever gotten (just the normal conspicuous family amount, rather than that + a screaming child) and 4 happy kiddos. That makes a happy mom! Thank you Puddle Jumpers!!!!!