Pool Days

Our pool has been a struggle this year due to a lot of rain.  First, some days we can't swim because of the frequent thunderstorms. Second, all this rain means more struggle with maintaining Ph and killing algae. So the last week has been a battle against the algae.  As of this morning, the pool looks pristine and we hope to keep it that way.

Until a few days ago, the only kids who swam regularly were our 6 big ones, all of whom are very competent swimmers.  When one of our big girls is out there, we are comfortable with having some combo of big kids swimming without a parent present.

But 3 days ago, Kevin took Sarah (age 4) and Daniel (age 3) swimming.  Last year, Sarah was afraid of the water and didn't want to go in. Daniel was nuts and, I think, I rarely took him down by the pool though occasionally Daddy took him in.

Daniel has stayed brave (and crazy), but this year, for the first time, we've found a combination of floatie swimsuit and water wings which help him keep his head and face above water.  The same is true for Sarah. And both, 2 days ago, decided they LOVE the water.

Kevin and I are both engineering, detail oriented, cautious types, so we are very very careful with the littles in the pool.  The rule is they may not be down at the pool without a parent present. Our big girls are very responsible, but we know how quickly disaster can strike.  So it has to be me or Kevin watching Sarah and Daniel all the time, EVEN with floaties.  I have read enough sad stories to know that a child in a floatie can get in trouble in the blink of an eye.

The "problem" is that right now, Sarah and Daniel are semi-obsessed about swimming. Daniel's first question this morning was, "Where is Daddy?"  I thought that was charming, that he loves his daddy so much (and he does love Daddy!) but the immediate follow up question was, "Can we go swimming?"  Well no, little guy, there is that inconvenient issue of WORK.  Not that he understands that :-).

For all that the pool is hard work and expensive, we are thankful for it.  Our older 6 kids are strong swimmers, because we have a pool and can work with them.  And they love swimming.

An added bonus is Daniel gets totally worn out by swimming. This is him, post swim, looking nearly comatose :-).

(Certain pictures in this post were replaced by my amazing daughter, Naomi, due to the fact that one of the previous pictures appeared to show Isaac drowned, Joseph with a disembodied hand and Miriam grimacing madly.)