Category Archives: Pool
Pool Day
We had an invite for the beach today, but I just am not ready to take Katie and Owen to the beach. Owen would be fine, but I have no idea if Katie will be a content to sit and play in the sand baby or if she’d be a run up and down the beach baby—and didn’t really have the energy to find out today…so I passed…but invited others over for the pool. One mom came over (the same one who went out to dinner with me on my anniversary) and it was great.
Getting ready for the sun:
This is what happened when I asked the kids to pose. She did and Owen looks like he’s attacking her! 🙂
Unfortunately, Katie was a total crankypants—the first time since she’s started this recent teething episode. But she liked the watermelon (and wanted to share, as you will see in the video).
I finally got out the baby pool we had when Owen was little (Tom just found it before he left):
And it was HOT. And with the running around with the kids and getting the air compressor out of the shed, yada yada yada, I really wanted to go in the pool. Ruth said “Sure, go ahead!” So I did! I spent about 15 minutes in with the kids—and Ruth even got Katie into a swim diaper and then brought her to the pool with us! Then Ruth even got in up to her knees to cool off. It was really, really great and I appreciated it immensely!
Swimming in the Rain
Owen wanted to go in the pool when we got home from the party…and it sounded good to me, too, since it was still so muggy and I needed to cool off. It had stopped raining but I could see the dark clouds rolling in. The water was actually a bit chilly so Katie and I didn’t stay in too long (I stayed in just long enough to clean out all the grass and bugs) and while we were drying off, it started raining. There was no thunder or lightning so Owen stayed in the pool. He loved it.
Busy Day
Today was a busy day.
I enrolled Owen in pre-k (but won’t know if he’s accepted until next week—long story)—which meant an early trip to town (of course with both kids in tow).
Then, since we were already out, we stopped at Food Lion to get Owen’s frozen pizzas (we were totally out). And someone fell asleep on the way home:
Then I made Cocoa Rice Krispie treats…because we were having pool play group at our house. After Katie got out of the pool, she hung out with Connor eating Cheetos:
I gave both kids baths—which Katie is a nightmare flailing about since she doesn’t like to get water on her head or get rinsed off (I was soaked and the bathroom was pretty wet as well).
Then I made the three usual dinners—making theirs first then making mine as they eat (with Owen asking “Mom, are you going to eat dinner?”).
I’m beat. And it’s only 6:30.
Another pool night
Somewhat dry…
We couldn’t find his goggles tonight so he was closing his eyes—and having a fit “because I can’t see anything!” 🙂
Somewhat more wet…
As with most of his pool toys, the shark was one we bought that he pretty much wanted nothing to do with. Hug it? No. Sit on it? No. Swim with it? No. But give him a week or so and look what he’s doing…
Katie loves it when we pull her around…and then Owen was pulling her around and singing Row Row Row Your Boat to her. And see what else she does?! 🙂
Pool party!
Well, I’m doing much better than I had anticipated…and life goes on (are you sensing a theme here?)…so we’re having a pool playgroup today! Not everyone could come, but two moms (each who just had husbands come home recently!) and three kids will be great!
Life goes on…part 2.
After the hot and sweaty time saying goodbye to Tom and then at the playground…the pool sounded really good. Of course, I didn’t realize my waterproof camera didn’t have the memory card in it until I was already in the pool…so these photos are from after I got out and grabbed my real camera.
Katie LOVES the pool. Owen LOVES the pool. They love playing together. It’s awesome.
And then watching Sofia the First.
The advantages of having our own pool.
He’s finally old enough to wrap himself in a towel and mostly dry himself off. I love him being self-sufficient!
Pool time with daddy
Pool Play Group
Our mommy play group schedule is off a little in the summer so basically someone just says “Hey, we’re headed to the beach!” or “Come on over…I’m getting out the water slide!” So today I had the group over for a pool party! We even had a new dad join our group!! (Ironically, it turns out he lives two streets over from us! This was the first group event he came to.)
It’s impossible to get five kids in a pool to stay still for a picture!
Owen in his new favorite goggles (from Amazon, of course). Get them here: Aqua Sphere Seal Kid Swim Goggle
And Katie did REALLY well! I was going to put her down for her nap around 11 when people arrived…but she wasn’t really tired so I put her in her cage 🙂 and she was happy enough and did really well until about 12 when she got hungry and then I put her down about 12:30 (and she napped until 4!).
We have a semi-floater!
Tonight’s project was trying to get him to float better. He could do it a little bit during the completion of his jump…but I wanted him to do it longer. It took quite a while—and daddy finally getting in the pool—before it actually happened.
But first, the prerequisite underwater shot…
A cool shot that looks like ice…
And cool new underwater blowing bubbles shots…
Attempting to float but really just jumping at me…
A cool faux-hawk…
Making mama happy…
Floating!
And on video!
When it was almost time to go in:
Me: Daddy, I think it’s time for I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. Owen, do you know what that spells?
Owen: I got no idea.
Tom: What does I-C-E sound like?
Owen: Ice!
Me: Yes, so ICE-C?
Owen: Cake!
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Me: ICE-C-R?
Owen: Cracker?
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Tom: ICE CREAM! Doesn’t that sound good?
Owen: Ah, no thanks.
🙂
The Tipping Point
Our pool has reached the tipping point where it’s no longer refreshing—it feels like bath water. I’m actually contemplating emptying and refilling half (before Tom leaves!) to try and cool it down…though water coming straight from the tap is like 75° so it might not help much.
Jumping in the pool
At first it was the same old same old…putting his face under water and generally being a ham.
An underwater picture of Spongebob floating face down. It’s confusing because the sky was completely cloudy.
And then daddy came out and joined us once he put Katie to bed.
And then things got a little crazier.
His “Superman” jump!
More pool fun with the kids
Daddy and Owen went in the pool tonight…and after awhile, Katie peeked behind the curtains and saw them out there…and went CRAZY so I took her out, too.
Now, he LOVES going under water!
Katie butt!
It only took about 25 shots to get this one!
Owen advances in the pool!
So Owen and I went in the pool when Katie went down for her morning nap. I worked with him on sticking his nose under to blow bubbles…which he eventually did. I really tried to get him to stick his whole face under—even tried getting him to plug his nose to do so—but he was having NONE of it. Okay, fine, I was content with what we had achieved.
Fast forward to Katie going to bed for the night and all three of us get in the pool. I had gotten a new waterproof camera so I wanted to test it out.
I told him to stick his face under—and you can see he barely got his chin and the very tip of his nose.
So then I told him to show daddy what he learned with me today—and imagine my surprise when we witnessed this:
WHAT?! He went under JUST like that! Like he’d been doing it all summer or something. The stinker!
Testing the stop-action setting with splashing!
And Photoshopped to adjust the colors (though it washes out the rest of the picture—I’m sure it could be done better, but I’m NOT a Photoshop wiz):
Photoshop version:
The long road home…
Owen summed up the day nicely about 10 hours in: I am not happy. No more road trips.
Best case scenario it’s a long day but it was made even longer since we decided to push the mileage to get to our favorite hotel…and then it was full so we had to go an hour farther. 🙁
And I tried to make Katie a bottle of formula…with apple juice. Because I just wasn’t thinking and thought I had filled one of Owen’s cups with water. WRONG! So Katie was REALLY not happy the last hour, though I tried to keep the snacks coming her way.
Then I tried to check in to the wrong hotel. I just saw the Q and assumed it was La Quinta. Nope, Quality Inn. It’s a good thing Tom didn’t get anything unloaded…
Then we had horrible take-out Chinese food (Mongolian Beef and General Tso’s Chicken are hard to screw up, but they did) which just added to the day.
Owen perked up once he got to play in the pool.
But since we arrived late, dinner was late and Owen getting to and back from the pool was late…which meant a super tired Katie—who should have gone to bed early at 8—couldn’t go to bed until they were back in the room and ready for bed…about 9:15. At least she only screamed for 10 minutes before falling asleep!
Overnight and the Kaliseum
Tom took Owen to stay at Grandma Marsha’s overnight and they went to the Kaliseum. Why does Kalkaska have something like this and Jacksonville doesn’t?!
Owen was having fun playing with the other kids and then even went down this big waterside by himself!! Twice!!
He had a blast there! He called it a hotel, though… 🙂
They all went to Big Boy for dinner, where Owen ordered his own hot dog dinner!
During dinner…
Owen: Guess what?
Uncle Rob: What?
Owen: Not you, I am asking your mother!
And then had ice cream back at Grandma’s.
And Uncle Rob tried to sleep with Owen, but Owen told him “No, Uncle Rob, this bed is my size.” 🙂
Owen and Gramma being silly
Yes, they’re wearing pool-toy squids on their faces. 🙂
Hotel fun with Papa and Grannie
We were on our way to the Ramada to go swimming with Papa and Grannie.
Tom (jokingly): We have to follow them—I don’t know where we’re going.
Owen: We’re going to the hotel, silly!
Tom taught him “time out!”
Playground at the hotel:
He climbed up all by himself! Grannie was a nervous wreck…me, not so much. 🙂
Daddy did most of the work but Owen understood the process.
Tom waiting to surprise owen!
In Grannie Lin’s socks to be more slippery for going down the slide!
Then in her sweatshirt so he could more easily go down head first!
The pool at gramma’s house!
Grandma knows the kids love water, so she got a pool for them! However…it’s a big pool and their ground water is COLD (a few gallons of boiling water didn’t even help much), so it was a very cold and brief play time…but they both loved it!
Road Trip, Day 1
Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…
The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.
Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.
So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.
No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1
So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.
The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.
Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.
Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.
When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).
And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.
Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.
Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.
Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.
Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!
Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…
Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:
Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.
It took a minute to get a smile.
Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.
I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂
Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.
Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.
Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.
I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.
I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.
Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.
I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.
Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.
Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!
Pool time with daddy!
Owen was in the pool when Tom got home, so Tom decided to surprise him—he dove right in while Owen’s back was turned! Owen LOVED it! Then I took Katie out to join them…
Owen + a slide + Katie’s pool
As mentioned previously, Owen just LOVES Katie’s pool and wanted to play in it after dinner. I then had the bright idea to get out his old slide so he could slide into the pool. And he LOVED IT. 🙂
And then I told him to try sliding down on his belly…which, as you will see in the video, it took him a minute to figure out just how to do it. But after that, it was GAME ON!
And a few more butt slide shots!
And a comparison to just over three years ago…May 2010 and June 2013.
Katie’s Kiddie Pool
We finally got out the small pool I had bought for Katie about two months ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t look really closely at what I bought, and it’s not so much a pool as a splash pad—which requires a constantly-running hose to keep the side of the “pool” up and the sprinklers going. (I had just thought we wouldn’t use the hose for the sprinklers part…but if you don’t, the sides don’t fill up to hold the water.) So…we can’t use warm tap water in it so Katie gets chilled pretty quickly—even when it’s 85 degrees out. But, she still liked it. And, of course, Owen LOVES it. He was more enamored with it than his big pool!
Tonight’s Bath
Yep. I’m now that mom. Tonight’s bath was a dip in the pool. (Well, technically more than just a dip.) 🙂
Every time he says “Watch me mom! Watch me!” I think of all the hundreds of times I said the same thing about cartwheels (or thousands of times if you believe what my dad says).
Love my pool boys!
A friend in the pool
After play group today, Amanda and Xander stayed so the boys could go in the pool. Xander is two…and wasn’t quite sure—for the first hour anyway—about the whole thing. But he eventually went in. They were having a blast splashing each other.
Later, Amanda texted me:
Thank you again so much for today. Xander has not stopped talking about playing with Owen since he woke up.
Xander just adores Owen and it’s sooo cute to watch…
New day, new pool, happy boy!
The new pool was filled by 8am, so when Katie went down for her nap Owen and I went outside! I had to put the salt in and get the pumps and filters working (a bit of a challenge since Tom is usually the one to do it—but I managed to figure it all out)…then Owen and I got in (it was the easiest way to get the salt to dissolve quickly).
Fun in the dead pool
The top inflated pool ring gave out a few days ago—I was upstairs in the office when I heard GUSHING water so I ran to the window to see that the side of the pool collapsed. I ran downstairs and stopped it, and we decided that it was probably just overfilled (we had been trying to regulate the salt levels) and the pool ring probably had another hole in it or was just not strong enough and gave way—so in the end we opted to just get a new pool (actually the cheapest part of the whole deal). It came today, so we had to get rid of the old one. The fastest and easiest way? Slit the side. It emptied so FAST that Owen barely got in in time to enjoy the last foot of water. When it got down to a few inches, I let Katie splash around as well and they both had a ball.
Then it was nekkid baby time as it was still plenty warm enough and Tom was getting the new pool set up.
And do you see what’s in that second to last pic? Tooth number five!
And last but not least…she loves spending time with her daddy!
The pool is officially open!
Owen has been bugging me to go in the pool ever since the first day’s brief splashing, but I haven’t been able to let him since the salt levels were too high. Today I finally over-filled the pool by about 2″ hoping it would be enough…and it was! I warned him it was going to be cold but he didn’t care…until he got in.
“EEK! IT’S COLD!”
Happy, happy boy!
Then I had him empty some of the water. It’s easier (and more fun) for him to do it!
Then he wanted balls. And water guns. And his AquaZooka. And then…
Owen: Mama, I want the fish.
Me: What fish?
Owen: The floaty fish!
Me: We don’t have a floaty fish.
Owen: Yes! In the shed!
I go to the shed and look around. I don’t see a fish.
Me: Owen, I don’t see a fish. Where is it?
Owen: Behind the wagon.
And damn if it wasn’t there, buried UNDERNEATH a hose. He must have seen it last weekend when Tom had everything out.
Then I noticed the sky looked like this:
So I kept an eye on the weather, but the clouds just moved right over us. Katie was enjoying watching her brother.
Then, strangely enough, AFTER the clouds passed, THEN it started to sprinkle, so I got Owen out of the pool:
And he decided to give Katie some love:
And then post-pool Lego play—of course in the kitchen where things easily get bumped or knocked off. But, to his credit, he said “But it’s out of reach [for Katie]!” which is exactly what I told him he had to do.
Unfortunately, when I went out later to fix the skimmer (that Owen had knocked apart), the pump started beeping at me that the salt was too high again. I have NO idea how that could happen, so I get to try again tomorrow…