Well, we move to this new house with a yard FOUR TIMES AS BIG and it has not one flat spot in it. There are not massive hills but just enough slope (and it's just inches!) that these little pools are giving me the worst time. I never got a picture of the first pool (identical to that one we had at the last house) but I will say when "fully" filled there was a 5 inch difference (one side of the pool overflowing and the other 5 inches from the top of the pool). Anyhow, the water was sparkling and I had worked so hard at getting the bottom as close to perfectly flat as possible. That day I decided we needed some time to cool off inside after filling the pool so in we went. The neighbor boys (ages 9, 7, and 6) had been watching us fill it and asked if they could swim. I said yes as I was unaware of what these age boys could do to a baby pool. Within 30 minutes, they had cannonballed all the water out and there were a few inches of standing water left in our pool. Philip saw the scene out our window and cried, "Those boys trashed our pool!" He was devastated and with reason.
After a few days, I decided to try to relocate the pool. The sides had warped badly from leaving it drained in the sun. However, my plan was to prop it on a large trunked tree. Now we just had a baby pool with one side against a tree and a waterfall overflowing as gravity pulled the water to the side of the tree! I declared us officially redneck! So wish I had taken a picture of that setup.
Round two of a backyard pool came in the form of an inflatible pool which I thought would hold up better as it was only 5 feet in diameter. That gravity will get you everytime and there we are redneck again!
Thankfully Philip and Braewyn have truly become little fish this summer but obviously not in our yard. Philip attended his third summer of swimming lessons and has gained such confidence and skill. He attends at an indoor pool which hosts high school swim teams during the school year. The last day of lessons, his instructor took the kids to the deep end (not their first time down there) and had them jump off the starting blocks of the second lane from the side. Philip jumped off, swam about 10 feet to his instructor and then another 10 feet to the ladder -- without any floation devices in 12 foot water! I was so proud. That was just a perfect prologue to our trip to Kentucky.
Over July 4th weekend, we traveled to Ruth Ann's homestate to visit our extended family. We always have the best time visiting everyone and I think this was the best trip yet as all the grandkids are getting old enough to really enjoy each other. Even though Philip was the only boy (other than sweet 2-month-old Dennis) out of 7 kids, he had a ball with Bailey and Windy (both just a few months older than him). Ruth Ann's sister Linda and brother-in-law Dennis are such generous hosts. Their home is beautifully furnished but so kid friendly at the same time. I love visiting because we are with loving family members but it feels like a real vacation at the same time due to the peaceful surroundings and pool fun. (Linda and Dennis, I always intend to send a note saying how much we enjoy coming but life hits and I forget. Hope you read this and know how blessed we feel by coming to visit!) (Lindsay, I apologize for not getting a picture of Amber. I hope we'll still be buddies!)
Braewyn made great progression too as she left the steps after a day to begin swimming on her back!
On a sad note, I do want to ask for prayers for Jackie, Matthew's cousin Patrick's wife. Just last week, we received word that her younger brother died from a tragic accident. Please lift up her family during this hard time. (Jackie, our thoughts and prayers are with you and wish we could be there in person. We love you lots!)
1 comment:
Wish we could have been in KY with you all. Looks like you had fun!
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