Soggy Family Sleepout from "The Drift" at Beachcomber Swim Club in Center Square, PA

Swim Club

Lessons learned from a soggy family sleepout

We left the comfort of our expensive, air-conditioned home to sleep with the kids in a cramped, lumpy, fifty dollar K-Mart tent. I guess we weren’t the only ones who decided that this was a Good Idea; twenty-five other families joined us at Beachcomber that night.

"Heat Lightning" greeted us as we arrived with tent, supplies and kids in tow, and we staked out an area for our tent that was far enough from the pool but close enough to the bathroom. The distant flashes passed, and the pool was opened. While the kids swam, the adults set up the tents. (Wouldn’t it be nice if this could be reversed?)

The lifeguards heard thunder, and the pool was cleared. Gaggles of kids played "flashlight tag" around the grounds, while adults chased them with the bug repellent. I think next time I’ll just create an bug repellent cloud and have the kids run through it.

A little after ten o’clock the pizza arrived, and I joined the mass migration to the snack pavilion. The threat of rain had kept some people away, so there was a large surplus of pizza. While I was enjoying slice number three, the weather made good on its threat. The clouds opened up, and the extent of the downpour could be seen when the sheets of water were illuminated with a flash of lightning.

At this time some kids in swimtrunks began to complain to their parents that they were getting wet. Remember, these are kids that were in the pool a few minutes ago, and now they are concerned that actual moisture is touching their bodies.

As each pizza was finished, the box was utilized as a novel pizza box umbrella. This was recycling at its best.

Some families packed it up at this time (myself included) but a hardy core group stuck it out (including my wife and kids). Thunder and lightning continued to keep the pool closed. Sometime after 1 o’clock the rain stopped and some kids played outside until another shower forced them back into the tents.

Morning broke clear and sunny. The pool opened at 8 o’clock and many took advantage of an early morning dip. Hi-Test coffee was available for bleary eyed adults. However, the kids didn’t seem to need any wake-up beverage. (How do they do it?).

Wet blankets were hung around the dive tank to dry while kids swam and the adults packed up the tents.

Joe assures us that he can neither control nor predict the weather, so don’t hold it against him. Perhaps next year will be drier, but, just in case, bring your pizza box umbrella.