A Splashing Good Time

This month for a fun thing to do, I took my grandchildren swimming. We checked out two swimming pools, one close – the Longview YMCA, and one about 45 minutes away – the Astoria Aquatic Center.

My grandkids have had some swim lessons but really need some more time in the water to be comfortable with it. One rainy Sunday afternoon we headed to Astoria to check out their pool. It is located on the main drag into town across from the Maritime Museum. Their website is www.astoriaswim.com. We were excited because we had heard they had a river and a large tube slide at this pool. When we got there we were told there was a birthday party going on so the big slide wasn’t available yet. But we headed in to check it out. The dressing rooms were nice and clean. They had a sign that said if you had a child of the opposite sex, older than four years they wanted you to dress in a private family dressing room. But my son and daughter-in-law were with us so that wasn’t a problem.

When we got out to the pool area we found three separate pools. The largest was a pool for swimming laps and there were ropes dividing the lanes. The medium pool was warmer, and included an area that was called The River. This area had a current that was fun to float down the river on. It also had a very large slide similar to the slides at water parks. It was available to use for about ½ hour of the time we were there. But our kids were too young and not strong enough swimmers to enjoy the big slide. There was a smaller yellow slide that Molly went down several times. The third pool was for toddlers and just 8 inches deep. There is also a large hot tub to relax in. It is a wonderful facility.

They had a rack of life jackets so you could put a life jacket on the younger kids that don’t swim too well yet. There were kick boards, fins and triangular floating items people could use. So we played and floated down the river many, many times. The kids had fun. We had an adult for each kid so they got lots of personal attention.

After we were done swimming we ate at the Pig and Pancake, and then drove up to check out the Astoria Columns. We had a rainy ride home.

This last week I was thinking about the fun we had in Astoria and wondered if we had a pool in Longview that would be fun to go to. So last Sunday we went to the YMCA pool. They have two swimming pools, the regular one has lap lanes, with a deep area and then there is a pool they call the Warm Pool. So we decided to check out the Warm Pool. The dressing rooms were nice and clean with lockers for our things.

The Warm Pool was pretty shallow with one side being 3 feet deep and the deep side being 5 feet deep. They too had an area with a current they call the Slow River. We asked the lifeguard for life jackets for our two youngest kids and they got them for us. There was a big barrel of long foam tubes that were fun to put under your arms and float around with. We then played in the Slow River and went through it many times. The kids (and grandma and dad) had a fun time.

Other than the slides at Astoria our YMCA was just as much fun. And both facilities are a good place to take kids on a rainy afternoon. Both pools had family rates that we all got in for under $15. We enjoyed both pools.

You can call Longview’s YMCA to check the times and rates at 360-423-4770. The Astoria Aquatic Center has a website at www.astoriaswim.com/

Jeanette Mahoney is the owner and chief photographer for Gotta Be Fun Photography, located in Lexington, Washington, and serves all of SW Washington. Her motto is “It’s just Gotta Be Fun Photography!” and can be found online @ www.gottabefun.com or call her #431-0271