Swimming in December

Patong Beach. We enjoyed a leisurely downhill stroll to the beach almost every morning. The kids would be in the water before we unpacked their towels and secured two deck chairs and an umbrella from a local family that rented them.

The kids spent almost every moment in the water. It was predictably warm and not very deep, so they only came out for Orange Fanta and fresh pineapple. I now have a working understanding of the verb “lolling.” They “lolled” about in the water for hours, pleading for us to come in and join them, which we did. But it only occurred to us a few days later why they enjoyed swimming so much: the temperature. The only times they had spent swimming outdoors was in the lakes around Burns Lake, which are cold even on the hottest days of August. Cody’s lips would turn blue and Kyla would shake involuntarily but they insisted on staying in, as most kids would. But they would eventually have to surrender before slipping into a hypothermic state. Not so in Thailand. And Cody learned how to pee in the ocean.