Yesterday was one of those days that didn’t start off that great and didn’t end up much better. Caroline has VBS all this week and I actually had to wake her up at 8:05 a.m. so we could make it in time. You don’t know how it grieved me to wake a sleeping child, especially my child who tends to pop out of bed by 7:00 a.m. almost every morning of her life.
By the time I picked her up at noon, she was exhausted and the backseat of my car basically turned into a scene out of a Greek tragedy. Except I don’t know any Greek tragedies with a plot involving a mean mother who won’t let her child eat only french fries for lunch and develop scurvy. I guess Sophocles couldn’t imagine that anyone would have to endure that level of cruelty.
We walked in the back door and I told her to go rest on the couch while I fixed lunch. After a ham sandwich, some Scooby-Doo, and a little rest, she seemed to be ready to face the world again so we went to the pool for the afternoon.
Let’s just say that before it was all said and done I had to say, “No, we are not staying five more minutes and we are not eating dinner here. If you ask me one more time then we’re not coming back to the pool for another week.” And then drama and chaos ensued.
Note to self: Do not threaten actions that create entirely unrealistic scenarios. It’s 168 degrees outside. If we don’t go to the pool for a week, we will all certainly perish from a bad combination of heat and the stir-crazy.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy eating dinner at the pool on occasion. In fact, I find their chicken fingers to be delightful on the days they aren’t totally burned to a crisp. Not to mention, the cheeseburgers are divine but there are only so many days you can sit around in your bathing suit and eat a cheeseburger. It breaks about six laws of nature.
At the beginning of the summer, Gulley and I noticed that the pool had added popcorn shrimp to the menu. We both agreed it sounded good in theory, but worried a little bit about the care and maintenance of said shrimp. It seemed like a recipe for potential food poisoning, and heaven knows that no one is going to feel sorry for you if you get food poisoning from eating shrimp at a pool grill prepared and handled by sixteen-year-old chefs who don’t even have the sense to empty the trashcans before they become a haven for every bee in a twenty mile radius.
But then one day my friend Julie made a bold move and ordered the shrimp. P decided it looked good so he ordered some too and he and Caroline ate their shrimp while I whispered silent prayers in hopes of exorcising any salmonella demons lurking within. There were no repercussions from the shrimp and it has since become Caroline’s favorite meal at the pool.
Then I noticed the other day they’ve added salmon to their menu. It’s not like I’m a food snob. I’ve eaten my fair share of meals at Long John Silver’s and I come from a mother who has been known to eat nachos from the snackbar at Target. I just think serving salmon is asking for trouble. It’s like the pool grill is trying to be a little too big for its non-gourmet britches.
I mean this is the same dining establishment where I ordered a grilled chicken pasta salad served with a piece of ciabatta bread and got pasta mixed with Italian dressing served with half a buttered hamburger bun. Those sixteen-year-olds think they are so clever, but I know ciabatta bread when I see it and it doesn’t look like the top of a sesame seed hamburger bun.
I think they should stick to the classics; cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, hot dogs, chalupas. Leave the grilled salmon to restaurants that actually have to abide by some sort of health code. Serving fish products is a disaster waiting to happen.
Of course so is taking an exhausted five-year-old to the pool after a long day, so what do I know?
Skip to Comment Form
Skip to Comment Form
Well, since the popcorn shrimp probably comes frozen and just gets dumped in hot oil – okay, likely safe. But salmon? You’re right! I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole! Hope today goes better for you!
Ah. The heat of a summer in Texas has already reduced us all to this. I bet in Alaska this salmon/salmonella would not be a problem. Which is where I am moving if the oh-to-perky weather woman says one more time:”Look for a week of three digit temperatures.” Tell me again why I live in Texas during the summer?
Thanks again for making me laugh out loud this morning….
Not sure what made me giggle louder…..the scurvy comment or breaking the laws of nature with cheeseburgers.
Sounds like you have quite an adventure for the summer lined up with the pool antics and 16 year old “chefs” calling the shots with your meal plan. Hopefully they implement better health code guidelines and don’t behave in the kitchen the way we used to at the clam shack when I was 15….
…*shudder*
Have a great day!
Maybe day 2 will be better. Hope it is anyway:D
Can’t get enough…made me smile, made me laugh…wish my girls and I could come to TX and hang out with you all at the pool, all the while eating greasy cheeseburgers in our bathing suits! Hope you have a great day!
I could NOT agree with you more. I think I would have to be literally starving to death before consuming salmon made by any 16 year old. Stick with the burgers!
“there are only so many days you can sit around in your bathing suit and eat a cheeseburger” AND still fit in to said bathing suit.
Laughing over the hamburger bun ciabatta!
I totally GET this! My friends in HS worked in the grill and I hung out back there a lot…and boy were they “big time” 16 yr olds!
So funny to read this very accurate adult perception…years late!
And yes, agree it’s not a good idea to threaten “no pool!”
What’s the latest on the attic???
You’r my first laugh of the morning. I needed it, thank you.
How funny! I remember all the “begs” at the pool. I hated the line, but we didn’t have all those choices! I feel for you Texans with all that hot weather. Here in Colorado, we have had some cool, rainy days!
I am so with you on this one!! Salmon at the pool grill is not a good idea, just thinking about it is making my stomach queasy!
seafood makes me nervous unless i’m near the beach or it costs lots of money. because then it must be good right?
I love VBS days, but wait until Friday, you will be so tired (her too) you will throw caution to the wind and order a side of Mango chutney (aka ketchup) with your salmon… at the pool!
Summer can make you do crazy things!
Hysterical! I was afraid you were going to say that you tried the salmon after seeing that nothing happened with the shrimp. Good thing you didn’t.
I’m jealous that it’s hot in TX. Last time I was in Sugarland for Christmas ‘07, it was 75 degrees, it’s not even 75 here in Boston in the middle of June! =(. I don’t know that I could handle all of the heat without Coke though, I feel your pain on that.
Sounds like a typical day at my house! My kids received their cloths that they picked out using the CWD kids gift card. Thumbs up from all 3 of them. Even the hard to please 7 yr. old boy. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
I don’t think I could ever bring myself to eat any type of seafood from a POOL. It just sounds wrong.
Hmm. Shrimp and salmon handled by 16 year olds at the pool?
You probably don’t wanna hear my story about the friend who worked at the fast food joint in high school and they used to fry june bugs on the grill when they got bored.
Right?
I didn’t think so.
So I’ve never heard of a pool that sells food until this one. Clever.
Minus the shrimp & salmon, of course.
love your summer stories!
i also wanted to tell you that i made my first trip to an HEB last night. my husband thinks it is fabulous so i did not want to have a biased opinion towards it and start comparing it to the grocery store of choice that we had in alabama (publix). however, i was impressed. i only had to pick up a few things, but seems like it is a cool place!
OK I would not touch the salom with a ten fot pole and yes I pronounce salmon like this sal-mon not sam-on like my sister and she is constantly correcting me, just throwing that out there. I’m not even sure if fish is good to eat while your outside in the hotness, it makes my stomach churn just thinking about it. I could totally see ya’ll at the pool yesterday arguing, too funny.
~Molly P
LOL! Although I’ve never heard of a pool serving chalupas… I guess it’s because I don’t live in Texas.
Oh – that was so funny. I’d stay away from the salmon, too.
I don’t think the 16 year olds at my pool are even AWAKE.
I would just rent a good movie for the afternoon after VBS. I’ve found with my three that the adjustment to the pace of summer takes a couple of weeks. They are so used to being busy that takes a while to slow down. We all need the Lord’s help to adjust to the summer schedule (especially ME!)
Yours totally needs corn dog bite and tater tots covered in nacho cheese..from the can!
I’m with ya on the salmon from the grill thing. Questionable at best.
We start VBS next week and just found out we got the last membership spot at the pool down the street from us. I’m already planning on dragging my two little ones down there every afternoon. I am sure the excitement will wear off in about 5 minutes.
It’s funny that your classics include chalupas. I live too far north for that to be a reality in my world. What a loss, right?
Well, I had the almost opposite situation happen to my family. My son plays baseball and after getting home from work and rushing off to a baseball game, dinner doesn’t always fit in. So, we will occasionally have to feed everyone from the concession stand. Well, we stood in line behind the mother of one of the boys on my son’s team, who’s daughter was begging her for a hotdog. She then went on a ten minute rant about the disgusting-ness of hotdogs and how only bad parents and weirdos will eat them. She, then, convinced her daughter to wait until the game was over so they could go somewhere decent for food. She looked up and realized we were standing behind her and she motioned for us to go ahead of her. I moved up to the counter and said, “Four hotdogs, please.”
I don’t think I’d eat fish products from the pool’s snack shack either. Although I’m not a good one to ask. Eating at Olive Garden makes me sick every time!
-FringeGirl
Ahh, yes the joys of summer fun. Food cross contamination is a real deal breaker along with badly handled fish products. The best friend for iffy restaurant/snack shack food is Stonyfield yogurt, or any other with as many lactobacillus strains, on a daily basis. Frozen it’s easy to convince kids the squeeze tubes are popsicles. A pharmacist clued me in on refrigerated acidopholous granuals kept behind the counter. Stir a packet of those puppies in some Stonyfield and it’ll knock heck out of whatever evil lurks.
At first I thought you might be swimming at the Country Club, but then you described the chicken pasta salad with a hamburger bun so I’m thinking no.
Funny I ordered salmon from a really nice restaraunt here and sent it back because the inside was still FROZEN. The manager was ticked off I would not eat it after they thawed out the microwave. I know I am a bit spoiled, but seriously….
Never, ever would I eat any sort of fish from a pool snack bar. We usually just get nachos or ice cream.
I’m with you. Steer clear of the seafood when the chef is wearing flip flops.
I agree. What’s next? Oysters? Chateau Brillant? Creme Brulee?
You’re a pool grill. Stick with hot dogs.
What kind of pool is this?! Our community pool serves frozen candy bars, something called a Chico stick (which appears to be the crunchy, stick-to-your-teeth part of a Butterfinger without the chocolate coating), and cans of caffeine loaded soda pop. Nothing like a pool full of kids pumped up on sugar; all eating foods that are sure to crack their teeth. A dentist’s dream vacation in the making.
Hmmm…I think the 168 degree weather accompanied by the unfortunate torture of depleting yourself of Diet Coke is really wearing your nerves thin. I wonder if they have rehabs for such an addiction. I’d say you’re experiencing the worst stage right now.
You go to a pool where there’s FOOD?
wow…
I am also living the stay at home summer dream but I have two kids. I don’t mean to play the my life is harder than yours card but I think it is funny. I remember a mom who I met at Gymboree Play when my first born was little who had twins and she was always trying to get me to join her twin group, first of all I felt that I did not qualify as I only had one child that was clearly not a twin, but I also thought these people will have nothing in common with me and how can I possibly complain about my life around these people. No complaining = no fun!
However allthough I have two children and clearly much more stress, hee hee.
I relate to you so well, and look so forward to your posts. I feel like you are in my head and quite possibly the same person however you actually have the writing skills to convey what I am thinking. Thanks for being you and not being ascared to say what ever comes into your head, cuz I enjoy you!
Yeah…I probably wouldn’t eat the salmon either. That could be ugly. Very ugly.
Count yourself lucky. At least you have the choice of chicken. Our pool only has the ice cream machine, where you can buy a fudgesicle for $99.95.
Oh my word! I don’t know if I laughed harder over the title or the post itself.My best friend and I had a little girls night out tonight.We went over to her sister’s house to see her brand new baby boy!Oh my word.Too sweet for words!Then we ate a burger,fries and a Peanut Butter milkshake from Culvers at 10 at night.We are wild women!On our way to her sister’s house you should have heard us.Talking about how much we just love you and how you are our pretend BFF.It is so true.You are a hoot and a half.Love ya girl!
We live within walking distance to our pool which means a lot of late afternoons turn into dinner down there–and your descriptions sounds EXACTLY like our pool hut menu. FRIED everything!
I have had all the same thoughts about how wrong it is to eat such offerings while scantilly clad.
And as for the Greek tragedy in your back seat…sounds like my daily life.
Comments on this entry are closed.