With our tubby Christmas tummies wobbling like London's Millennium Bridge, Luca and I ventured through the icy wastes of Inverurie for an indigestion inducing swim at our local pool this morning.
Here's an anxious looking young man. This was taken in the changing rooms just before we got changed. Although he's perennially keen to give anything a go it has been some time since I last took him swimming, and with him being not the boldest of chaps we have - in previous sessions - experienced varying levels of panic when exposed to any level of water that reaches above his waist.
He's still a little nervous here, especially in regard to his attire. As those of you with elephant-esque memory's may recall we've previously dressed him in the olde world type swimming costumes with Styrofoam floats attached all round the midriff. Luca, being the bright chappy he is, also recalled this and stared at me confusedly as I put these shorts on. "Dad" he enquired while giving me the quizzical eyebrow frown he inherited from his Mum, "Where's Luca's swim costume? No like this".
He's nothing if not adaptive though. As you can see in the above photo his hands are wrinkled from extensive exposure to chlorinated water. We ended up spending a great deal more time in the pool than I could have imagined. After his usual levels of trepidation he slowly became emboldened throughout the experience. We put a pair of water wings on in the pool and - after a tantrum of course - he began to enjoy himself. In fact, toward the end as he doggy paddled with my arms supporting him underneath, I'd occasionally gently take my hands away and watch him splash and swim along unsupported. Of course I think we know what would have happened had he become wise to my game!
And here's Mr Wrinkle Fingers again. Why such a smile? It's not a smile, I asked him to do his "tiger".
Here we are back home, freshly refuelled with excessive amounts of chocolate. Contrary to perceptions of what sugar does to children he looks quite sedate here. Contrarily see below......
That's more like it! "I need more sugar, and I need it now!"
Sorry, he's not a demon - I'd asked him to give me his dinosaur impression. The little animal featured in the picture above is more of a problem. This is Sima minutes after having a wee on the kitchen dog bed. Always a pleasure to clear up.
How can you get angry with that face though? Although she is still acting a little cautious around me after I slipped on the ice yesterday and broke my fall by landing on her......
My fourth fall in three days! Perhaps I need to check the alcohol level of the chocolate liqueurs I've been wolfing with such gusto over the Christmas period.
Following our swim today Carole took Luca to Sauchen to Karen's house for their annual apres Christmas drinks and bites. I excused myself from it this year and instead stayed at home to get caught up with a few Christmas clear up jobs.
Obviously the fact there was two big games of football live on TV played no influence in my decision....
Tonight - resisting the urge to bury it in the bottom recesses of the bin - I'm using the last of the leftover turkey to make us a curry. Hopefully this should finish it off for good. Did anyone else wake up this morning with a rather pungent turkey aroma'd burp?
**Useless fact of the day - Although it's commonly regarded that elephants have the best memory's in the animal world, it's been conclusively proven that sea lions have a superior brain - their memory's stretch back a minimum of 10 years**
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