Grandma Takes a Fall

My mom plays hard. I think she and Luke were playing non-stop for 3 days in our basement. They played pickle in the middle with Jack, some wii bowling, pretend restaurant, and I really have no idea what else. Since I was working and missing out on all the fun, I decided to take Wednesday afternoon off to play, and to take them to the pool. And not just any pool, but the fed-by-artesian-springs, since 1905, Eldorado Springs Pool. Here is the thing, my mom does not come to Colorado for the scenery, she comes to see her grandchildren. She doesn't even pretend that she is here to see me, so the fact that I was making Luke and Grandma stop playing and go to the pool was really just something they tolerated.

Luke and Jack and Grandma and I put on our swimsuits and headed to the pool while Grandpa settled down for a nice summer's nap. It was a hot day, but brrr, that water was cold. Way too cold for baby Jack. So I took one for the team and sat in the shade and held baby Jack while Grandma got in the pool with Luke. In the shallow end there is a little corner with a little metal fence around it. They call that the baby pool. On the other side of the fence is a ledge for sitting or jumping into the slightly deeper water. Apparently, the baby pool side is a different depth than the ledge side. At least that is what Grandma said after she tried to go from the ledge to the baby pool, and tripped and fell, landing with an "AAAAAHHHH!" and a little splash. A mom and dad were trying to help her out while Luke and I stared with our mouths gaping open, and the life guard was saying, "NO Splashing IN THE BABY POOL." And my mother was laughing and telling the bystanders that she was OK, and turning the life guard and saying, "Are you talking to me? I wasn't splashing, I fell in! I'm a grandma!" He was not, in fact, talking to her.

I finally decided to be a good daughter and let her get out and hold the baby and warm up while I got in. I'm not a "just jump in" type of person. More of a "eeeh" "oooh" "brrr" "eeek" person who gets in 1 inch at a time, suffering all the while. But that day, I thought, "what the heck? I'll do a cannonball off the diving board." As I was walking to the diving board I was thinking, "Huh, how long since I've been on a diving board? 19 years? 20?" I almost chickened out until I noticed the kid in front of me in line had only one leg. OK, I can do this. And at the end of the board as I was jumping, I sort of remembered that I have a knee injury, shoulder pain, back issues, and various and sundry other problems that maybe make the quick cannonball movement, and powerful cannonball landing an ill advised maneuver. But I was already in the air, so I did a half-hearted attempt at a cannon ball and then swam to the side to confer with the judge. And Luke said, "That was the worst cannonball I have ever seen." (Ironically, I am watching Olympic Swimming as I type this.)

After a while, we left, and crossed the little bridge over the tiny creek from the pool to the parking lot. Grandma declared the view magnificent and if I had just agreed and walked to the car, I would be $7.00 richer, and Grandma wouldn't have those two new gray hairs. But I thought, "Hey! Let's drive through Eldorado Canyon State Park! And maybe go for a hike!" My mom doesn't like heights, or curvy roads, so what could be better than a canyon? You are at bottom, so no heights to worry about! The road through the park is about a mile long, so no time to get car sick! The speed limit is 15 mph. I drove 5 mph, which apparently still made it seem like we were careening towards the little creek. Let's just say we didn't make it to the visitors center. As soon as I could turn around I did, because Grandma was curled into the fetal position saying, "No, go on! I'm fine! You just spent $7.00! I'm fineohmygodanothercariscominghowwillitevergetpastusturnaroundturnaround. No, I'm fine. Keep going." I turned around without crashing into the creek. Of course, on the way back, I did make everyone go on a little hike with me. And everyone was happy when I went to work the next day.

Sorry Mom!

I shouldn't tease, but I can't help it. That is how I was raised. In fact, before my parents showed up, Luke said to me, "Mom, when Grandma and Grandpa are here, I don't want you to tease me. Because Grandpa is going to be teasing me a lot. So I don't want you to tease me. But it's OK if Grandpa teases me." So, basically, I was forced to tease my mom. So blame Grandpa!