Ducks in a baby pool got your attention!

More than 115 people submitted captions for last month's "Pass the Word" feature photo, which was shot in Paradise by Sunday News photographer Jeff Ruppenthal.

We are publishing only a portion of those funny lines today; but you can read samples — from every contributor who followed our guidelines — on www.LancasterOnline.com.

Be sure to look for those submitted by Diane Anderson's seventh-grade students at Landisville Middle School in the Hempfield School District. "Each Friday we do a quick, non-graded writing," Anderson wrote. So, this creative teacher brought the newspaper into the classroom and had her students write clever captions for the photo of the ducks. She shared some with us.

We're down with that!

This month's photo, a rocking chair set at the open door of one of the buildings that comprise the King's Homestead shops in Ronks, was shot by Sunday News photographer Vinny Tennis.

The picture demands incredible creativity for caption-writing; but Tennis thinks you're up to the challenge! Prove him right!

Guidelines:
Send an original, amusing caption to LIVING@LNPNEWS.COM.

Please put this in the subject line of your e-mail: "Pass the Word" [Insert your last name].

You are also welcome to send a caption to us via the U.S. Postal Service: "Pass the Word," Living, Sunday News, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328.

We must receive your submission no later than Monday, Oct. 20.

Be sure to include your full name and town of residence (as well as a daytime telephone number, which will not be published).

We reserve the right to edit your work.

Share your wit! Send us those captions!


With all of these bills, we're lucky to stay afloat!"

— Trish Cox, New Holland


"Does anyone see my contact lens?"

— Tom Gehr, Drumore; Annie Ginder, Willow Street; Harry Perkins, Lancaster; Lori Roscoe, Manheim


Fowl play

— Marlene Bowman, Ronks


"We love to take a duck in nice, cool water when it's hot!"

— Shirlee Mershon, Lancaster


"What? Everybody's downsizing!"

— Lisa M. Miller, Lancaster


This kiddie pool is for the birds!

— Marion Sunden, Willow Street


"Ping? Ping?! Where are you, Ping?!"

— Carol Wenger, New Holland


"Has anyone seen Donald?"

— Robert E. Hill, Lititz


"Don't forget your water wings!"

— Michelle Wise, Lancaster


The family that plays together stays together.

— Virginia Joline, Lancaster


"This place is smaller than it looked in the brochure!"

— Scott Conley, Mount Joy


"The water always looks cooler on the other side of the pool."

— Les Wagner, Ephrata


"Ahh, Paradise!"

— Shannon Guzman, Lancaster, and Gurley M. Manners, Lancaster


"Hey, guys, keep looking."

— Anne E. Dunlap, Lancaster, and Deb Schuch, Columbia


" ... We get along just ducky."

— James L. Keefer, Elizabethtown, and Helen A. Miller, Willow Street


"Where's mom?" "She ducked out for a moment."

— Mary Elizabeth Strohmeyer, Lancaster


"So, whatever happened to 'putting your ducks in a row'?"

— Julia Roehm, Manheim


"I'm not going in the deep end!"

— Joannie Kachel, Ephrata, and Shirley J. Orfanella, Quarryville


"Are you sure there's enough room for Mom?"

— Jean M. Weaver, Lititz


"Just washing off ... we're bill-thy."

— Jamie Herman, 12, Landisville Middle School


Bottoms up!

— Kristen Sipling, 12, Landisville Middle School


And there's more!

Here are some more captions submitted by Sunday News readers. (Although many sent multiple options, we are only posting one caption per contributor.)


"Ain't this just ducky?"

— Doris Mohn, Akron


"Look, Mom! We're playing Duck, Duck, Goose!"

— Helen Peifer, Akron


"Come on! Let's play a game! Duck our heads and see who can hold their breath the longest."

— Thelma Myers, East Petersburg


"Mom's goine shopping and we're stuck in day care AGAIN!"

— Ronald Eby,  Ephrata


"Mom, we're getting too big for this. We wanna go to Lititz Springs!"

— Grace Graybill, Ephrata


"Hey! Who pooped in the pool?"

— Helen Hauck, Ephrata


"Pool party time. Where's the Bud??"

— Barry Kachel, Ephrata


"For the Olympic Gold Medal: Freestyle Duck Swim!"

— Bob Rhoads, Ephrata


"Everybody to the rear of the pool."

— Jane W. Rhoads, Ephrata


"Excuse me, waitress. I distinctly said, 'No quackers in my soup.' "

— David Thornton, Ephrata


"Hey, guys. Would you move over and give me some room, too?"

— Betty J. Wise, Ephrata


"So-o-o, where is the competition?"

— Marti Zimmerman, Ephrata


"Anyone want to go to the movies? I hear the Marx Brothers' 'Duck Soup' is playing. Quacckk."

— Barb McKillips, Kinzers


"Everyone to the back of the pool for a buddy check."

— Marian Roten, Kirkwood


"Hey, everyone, let's duck out of the pool, grab some quackers for lunch and then play Duck, Duck, Goose."

— Linda Bloom, Lancaster


"OK, so who brought the bubble bath?"

— Fred Bogner, Lancaster


"Hey, guys, spread out!"

— Gary Bouder, Lancaster


"I don't think it's a piranha; but, just in case, exit to the left!"

— Sandy Conklyn, Lancaster


"OK, who 'fowled' the water?"

— Vera Ditty, Lancaster


"Gas prices are so crazy! We'll have to vacation somewhere closer than the lake this year, kids."

— Sara Fulmer, Lancaster


"Move over. I'm crowded."

— Ruth Gamber, Lancaster


"Come on, girls. Stop paddling around; it's time to start our swim aerobics."

— Gloria E. Hoelzel, Lancaster


"We like togetherness."

— Wilson E. Malles Jr., Lancaster


"What's he doing down there?"

— Deborah F. McCartney, Lancaster


"Don't crowd me! There's enough water for all of us to swim!"

— Gladys S. McFalls, Lancaster


"Now, isn't this just ducky: a pool party ... and the chicks nowhere to be found!"

— Terry L. Mentzer, Lancaster


"Will you PLEASE stop humming the 'Jaws' theme?!"

— Bill Plantholt, Lancaster


"Where's the food? Mommy said it was here."

— Mickey Raber, Lancaster


"Moe, the shark's somewhere down there! Yipes! Where's Charlie?"

— David E. Roth, Lancaster


Pool party

— Helen H. Shenk, Lancaster


"This side for McCain/Palin, lucky ducks!"

— Betty H. Shirk, Lancaster


"OK, who made the mess at the bottom of the pool?"

— Cathleen Webb, Lancaster


"Passing on the left ..."

— Jim Wilson, Lancaster


"We were never this crowded at Long's Park."

— Jim Heck, Landisville


"Of all the motels we have been to, this one has the best baby pool."

— Joan Heisey, Landisville


"Was this birdbath made in Texas?"

— Martha Clark, Leola


"Fumble!!"

— David Schuler, Leola


"Ten ducks a-swimming ... and a partridge in a pear tree."

— Keith Yoder, Leola


"What do you say we get out of here? ... I heard that Lititz Springs Park has a much better swimming hole!!"

— Justin Bradley, age 8, Lititz


"See, guys? This beats waddling down to the creek!!"

— Barbara A. English, Lititz


"Girls, girls. Can't we agree on ONE thing?"

— Nancy R. Straw, Lititz


All 'quacked' up!

— Joann Garvin, Manheim


There's a whole lot of quacking going on!!

— Joan Mohr, Marietta


"And they wanted you to play with a 'rubber duckie.' "

— Chris Stoutzenberger, Marietta


"Hey! I thought I told you guys to go BEFORE you got in the pool. What are you? A bunch of wild animals?"

— Carrie Palmer, Maytown


"OK, guys. Who is going to volunteer as lifeguard? We sure need one! Half these chicks can't even swim."

— Harriet H. Neil, Millersville


This water is fowl!

— Egmidia Ranck, age 9, Mohnton


"Duck, duck, duck ... but where's the goose?"

— Maddie Conley, Mount Joy


Lucky ducky

— Philip Lafferty, Mount Joy


Poolllution!

— Rose Locar, Mount Joy


Rub-a-dub-dub

10 ducks in a tub

Looking for the sea of blue

— Kitty Wagner, Mount Joy


"You paid HOW MUCH for this pool?"

— Lois J. Garloff, Myerstown


"What time is dinner served?"

— Linda Christy, Narvon


OK, guys. Fun's over. Back in formation."

— Carolyn Nemec, New Holland


"Hey, there's a dime!"

— Joan Alexander, New Providence


"Where's our AFLAC leader?"

— Tom Alexander, New Providence


"Where are the bubbles?"

"I thought you put them in."

— Barbara Chervin, New Providence


"Maze? No wonder we can't find our way out of here!"

— Barbara Long, Quarryville


"If only our owners could afford an Olympic-size pool ... We could practice and, possibly, make the Summer Games the next time around."

— Elsie Minnich, Quarryville


"Watch out, guys! Dad's playing shark again!"

— Stephanie Eshleman, Reamstown


"Hey!! Watch where you are going."

— John C. Rintz, Strasburg


"I don't know what the rest of you think, but I think we are getting too big for the baby pool."

— Nancy Rintz, Strasburg


"Where did the kid go that belongs to this pool?"

— Byrle Ann Salm-King, Strasburg


"Hey, fellas! Let's all comb our hair like they did in the '50s ... D.A."

— Roy Weik, Stevens


"You're wrong. That's not a dead duck down there."

— Norma Huss, Willow Street


"All right, who peed in the pool?"

— Dennis Miller, Willow Street


"Nope. Nothing fishy going on here."

— Lisa L. Miller, Willow Street


"OK, guys. Mom left. It's pool party time!"

— Bev Musser, Willow Street


"We're missing one. ... Oh! There he is — swimming underwater!"

— David Sunden, Willow Street


"Hey, guys, either we're getting bigger or the pond is getting smaller!"

— Glenn Haus, Pawleys Island, S.C.


"Aaahhh, what a relief! We thought those tourists would never leave."

— Jeanne Muehleisen Klein, Williston Park, N.Y.


Here are some captions submitted by Diane Anderson's seventh-grade students at Landisville Middle School in Hempfield School District:


"Why waste our time flying when we can swim?"

— Tatyana Stewart


"The adult ducks are are just simply trapped in their teen years."

— Erin Anderson


DUCKLING POOL: NO BABIES ALLOWED!

— Nic Engle, Kyle Gander and Darian Erb


"Is it just me? Or did the pond shrink?"

— Zane Harnish


"Hmm ... Where's the bread? Where's the baby? Where's the rest of the pond?"

— Sarah Hafiz


Bread crumbs: $5.

Paying the baby sitter: $3.

Day at the spa: Priceless!

— Abbie Leaman, Anita Melendez and Tess Miller


"Swimmin' good in the neighborhood."

— Aaliya Simione


"Hey, kid. Is the pond nearby?"

— Niki Amerman


"My lake shrank into a gourmet spa with crystal-clear water and a bread buffet."

— Madison Wilson


Anyone can have a pool party. (It's just more fun when you have webbed feet!)

— Dayna Horsey


"Hey, does this water feel a little warm to you? Or is it just me?"

— Hannah Weatherell


Rub-a-dub-dub ... Ducks in a tub!

— Alexis Morabito


"Move over! You're popping my personal ducky bubble."

— Emily Shenk


"AFLAC!"

— Eric Greener


"And to think I paid for this ..."

— Jesse Sherlock