I grew up with friends who had pools. Such is growing up in suburban San Diego. Everyone had a pool. And if they didn't have a pool, their neighborhood, apartment complex and/or next door neighbor had a pool,
so, naturally, I spent a lot of time in pools. So much so that my hair was green.
Permanently.
I had naturally blonde hair with unnaturally green tips and prunes for fingers all summer long 24/7.
That was, until I turned eighteen and moved out on my own and into an apartment without a pool. Fourteen years and no pools anywhere I've ever lived later, my hair is no longer green/blonde and none of our friends/neighbors have pools Therefor/henceforth, besides the pool at the kids' weekly swim lesson, we don't pool it up very often/ever here in LA.
Until (dunt dunt DUUUUUNT) now...
We took a last minute sojourn to The Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica with some friends for Father's Day.
Which we didn't even know existed.
Which is embarrassing. But also kind of awesome. I mean, I've lived in Los Angeles for fourteen years and this city still surprises me constantly. (We recently spent the day at
The Getty Villa for the first time as well and I have YET to spend time at any of Malibu's beaches. Ever.)
ED: For those of you in LA (or looking to visit at some point) here is some
Annenberg Beach House backstory. Very glam, indeed.
Memberships shemenberships.
We were supposed to meet our friends at 11 to get tickets to the pool (
$10 for adults, $4 for kids) so naturally we arrived at 3:30. Which was fine because three hours is kind of our magic timeframe for doing family things. Also, we didn't have to bring lunch. Which is a lot easier now that Bo and Revi are eating full on three course lunches complete with cutlery.
As per usual, we divided and conquered. Hal took the big kids to the pool to swim and I chased Bo around while holding Revi on my shoulders. (I've been meaning to write a post about Revi's epic clinginess which went away and then came back with such a vengeance I had to call our doctor because I was afraid something was seriously wrong. I've been writing outside of the house because I literally cannot do anything anymore without Revi screaming to be held. And by screaming I mean FULL PANIC mode. It's intense. Bo was this way when she was an infant and that was hard, too, but Revi's attachment has thrown me into a bit of a depression. More for another post but oh man, it's been a tough ride.)
Anyway. There's a reason Revi is in very few photos. It's because 98% of the time she's in my arms/on my back/in my lap.
Bo on the other hand is everyone's best friend and spent most of the late afternoon playing hide and seek with strangers and having full on conversations with every single person, regardless of age, while Revi sat perched on my shoulders pulling my hair.
"Hi. I'm Bo!"
"Hi! I'm Bo!"
"I'm Bo. Let's hold hands."
"Thanks."
"THERE ARE NO PEOPLE OVER HERE TO SAY HI TO THIS SUCKS!"
"Oh, look! PEOPLE ARE THIS WAY! AND BIRDS! HI, I'M BO!"
***
All in all, a primo Father's Day. Archer and Fable spent most of the afternoon in the pool and we spent the whole drive home asking ourselves why we didn't look into public pool options earlier.
We're off to San Diego in a few days but when we return, public pools will absolutely become part of our summer jam. Especially public pools on the beach. Nothing can top that action...
***
For more on The Annenberg Community Beach House/to make a cannopy reservation (it's $30 for three hours and perfect for three families, which is what we were) go here.
GGC
1 comments:
Public pools (Annenberg is an exception as it's pay to play) are OK for the first week or two. Then they get gross. And quickly they get unacceptably foul. Like hair extensiobs bobbing beside you in the water. And so much chlorine your eyes burn for hours after. Stick to Annenberg.
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