Mermaid Sightings

Oh Laura, how you crack me up and remind me of my younger years.

The other day Laura saw a girl at the pool swimming with mermaid tail. This was a GAME CHANGER!  Earlier in the summer we had asked at Cascade Falls pool if mermaid tails were allowed and were told that they are not so we assumed mermaid tails would also be illegal at the Prairie Ridge pool as well. Apparently the two pools in Ankeny don't have the same rules. A few days later we were preparing for an afternoon at the pool and Laura told me she wanted to put the mermaid tail on in the car so people would think she was a real mermaid when she arrived at the pool. I reminded her that I bring a lot of gear to the pool and it would be nearly impossible to carry her and my 31 bag full of stuff through the very packed pool parking lot. She figured all would be fine if she just transformed herself in the locker room. 
We got to the pool and there was a sign that said someone had pooped in the pool and it would be closed for the rest of the day, but the splash pad was still open. The wheels in Laura's brain started to turn and she said she would just change into her fin behind a tree. I asked her what her plan was once she had her fin on since the splash pad is just a bunch of fountains for kids to run through. She told me she would be fine just sitting next to a fountain. (Obviously the objective of this day was not get wet, it was to allow others to experience a mermaid sighting). After she turned herself into Ariel behind an evergreen, I carried Laura (Charles Ingalls style) to the splash pad while Sam struggled to haul in my 31 bag into the splash park area. (He's going to be a great husband some day.)
Lo and behold there was a daycare at the splash pad and all their eyes were on Laura the mermaid.  She just knew they thought she was a real live mermaid. Yeah, we're making memories this summer!