Those long foam noodles are so much fun in a pool. You can relax on one stuck between your legs or under your pits, tie them around a waist and keep a kid afloat, whack someone over the head without imparting too much pain, drag a kid around on one, and — if you’re not grossed out about germs — put your mouth to the end of a hollow-core noodle and blow a fountain all over someone who’s staying dry poolside.

All that is great unless you’ve got a noodle that’s been at the JCC pool for several months, in which case it’s gross with moldy stuff and heaven knows how much fecal matter has embedded itself in those foamy pores. My OCD meter hits emergency red when I have to deal with public-use pool noodles.

But right now I’m grumpy about noodles because I took a photo. Jesse is in SUCH a good mood today! I’m just thrilled when a peachy day like this comes along. She was having so much fun playing before her swim lesson, so I snapped a shot of her relaxing on a noodle. But instead of collecting a sweet little memory, this is what I got:

I know, I know, it just looks like a little girl floating on a noodle and I need to wash my dirty mind out with soap. And this cup, which I saw at Target a few years ago, is just a princess cup with a built in straw:

I wonder what these princesses think about.