Membership has its privledges

A good portion of any young man's summer (and life) is spent trying to persuade the prettiest single ladies to pay attention to him. I am no exception to this rule. As I am the youngest lad in most of the social settings mom and dad put me in, this isn't always an easy feat, and I am constantly struggling to find ways to impress the lovelies.

I do have one advantage over many other would be suitors for certain available single ladies. This advantage is a true silver bullet this time of year. This is... wait for it... access to the residents only beach pool (the basis for many of my recent blog entries). The pool is a special treat and exclusive to Spring Lake residents. So I thought, if I enjoy it so much, why not invite some hottie to accompany me and see how cool I am when I flash my badge and the bouncers wave me in. This forward thinking got me my first date (and a little out of my league)...

Since I am too young to drive, bike, walk, or even crawl to the pool ,dad loaded us into the bike trailer for our quick ride to the pool. Fast forward this picture 12 yrs and this will be me and Harper in the back of dad's car on our way to see some movie. If I think about holding her hand, I will probably get the exact same nervous look on my face. Note to 12-year old self: make sure mom doesn't get all geeky and bust out the camera to snap that picture too.

Anyway, back to the present day and my date with Harper. When we arrive at the pool, I begin to realize that I have no idea what I have gotten myself into, AND there is nothing I can do about it. What if I get hungry, or cranky, or chilly, or poop, or who knows what other embarrassing thing. And I certainly can't cry or I'll blow it with Harper and she'll realize that I am still a little baby. Uh oh!!

Post-pool: If I could talk I would be saying, "Phew, I think that went very well!"

I really held it together. Harper didn't laugh at me in my silly sun hat. I didn't cry one bit and I was really brave in the water. I even showed her my Michael Phelps-style kicking. I think Harper had a really fun time too. On the ride home, to seal the deal, I gave her my favorite Elmo flip flop to chew on, because c'mon, who doesn't like a post-pool flip flop?