Swimming in November?

Every fall, my friend, Holly, and I try to see how long we can keep taking our kids swimming. Here in Palo Alto, the average temperature range is 58 - 79 degrees. This means that if the weather dips below 65, I'm usually freezing, and if it is above 85, I'm hot. True Palo Altans have even less tolerance for temperature extremes. I'll never forget the first summer I was here and people were talking about how hot they were on a day that was a mere 80 degrees.

But I digress.

Typically in October, we can count on some very warm days. In the autumn of 2008, Holly and I went swimming on October 24. We were proud of our feat. "Wow," we said to ourselves, "we live in a place where we can go swimming in October!" We joked about someday breaking the record.

We finally broke the record this past Thursday, November 4. The weather was around 80, and even though the pool heater was no longer running, Holly and I realized that if we were ever going to go swimming in November, this was our chance.

And we did.

My definition of swimming was hanging out in the freezing water long enough for my legs to get numb and not really having the guts to go all the way.

Our kids, however, went all the way - and although it was short-lived, had a great time!


Emmy toying with the idea of diving right in






Doesn't this face just say it all?


Sophie getting the guts and taking the plunge


This little guy probably enjoyed the water more than anybody!


The kids probably had the most fun dipping their sidewalk chalk in the water for extra bright artwork . . .


They also become super-involved in making enough "yucky soup" for all to share