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Category Archives: Pool

Poooooooooolllllllll!!

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Oh my goodness he was SO excited watching Tom get it ready and start filling it up…

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I love the feet here.

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And the face here.

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Tentative first step…

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Hey, this is fun!

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Posing for mom’s request.

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More splashing around.

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“Can I take my shorts off?”

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“I have to go potty!”

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I tried to get a cute shot of his face with his butt blurry in the background…but for as scary smart as he is sometimes, he could NOT grasp that I wanted him to move his legs around. 🙂

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Tom working on the walkway.

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She LOVED the water and wanted to GO GO GO!

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When she first got in, it was pretty shallow so she could kinda crawl/float around…and boy did she scoot quickly!

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But since it was filling as we were in it, it obviously kept getting deeper…

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…and she started taking on water!

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And of course big brother was RIGHT there the whole time. He wanted to play with her SO badly!! And we taught him that if he sees Katie go under, the first thing he has to do is pull her up then scream for us if we’re not right there. 🙂

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I sense a very wet summer for me…

On a sidenote, we’re trying a saltwater system this year. It’s supposed to be a lot easier since there’s no chemicals—just salt—and it’s less harsh on your skin and hair. We had to get a new filter system, but we’re still ahead of the game cost-wise compared to the neighborhood summer pool cost (heck, I think we might be ahead of the cost from last year still—not even including this year)!

NEW CONTENT:

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Racing!

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Maggie was running along the fence with the next-door neighbor’s dog (the first time they’ve “met” since the renters moved in about two months ago) and Owen was playing with the pool as Tom was emptying it and dismantling the pump, etc. But then Owen noticed the dogs running (racing!) and had to get involved. If you listen closely you can hear him announce Maggie as the winner.

Last day in the pool!

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The pool water is pretty dirty—and draining as we sit here—but he was desperate to go in. And since it’s 75 today we figured he might as well get in one last hurrah!

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Then he had to get in the tiger. HAD TO! He wanted help but I always have him try things by himself first…and he did it!

After I stopped recording, of course he got cuter—bouncing around saying Howdy pardners!

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Owen peed in the grass!

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Owen and I were in the pool and he was naked and we’ve told him you can’t pee in the pool. After awhile he says “I need a diaper” and grabs his penis. I make a big deal about him letting me know and tell him he can go in the grass—and then I put him there! He wasn’t too sure. I told him he could pick one of his new cars and he was super excited about that. It took a minute with some cajoling, but he did it!! :up:

We celebrated, he was excited, and he got to pick his car! I said going pee in the grass was just like going in the potty…but he wasn’t falling for it.

But it’s a start, right? I think we’ll do a naked weekend soon.

My favorite part of today…

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Owen was in the pool and I was holding Katie because Tom wasn’t home. He kept saying “Mama come in? Mama get your suit?” and of course I couldn’t. Tom got home and Owen kept asking, so I just hopped in—clothes and all—and he was soooo excited! And we had soooo much fun. 

He says “I’m Tony!”

Tony? Huh?

“Owen, who’s Tony?”

“IRON MAN!” (For those who don’t know, Tony Stark is Iron Man.)

So I was the Hulk and chased him around the pool. And he reenacted parts of his favorite Avengers movie. 

It. Was. Awesome.  

Road trip–Family, Cousins, and Water Country

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We took a somewhat last-minute trip to Williamsburg, VA, to see family—and we also decided to go to Water Country USA since we were able to get free tickets for being military.

Saturday night we met with Stef & Al (my third cousins, I think—I’m bad at figuring out those type of family relations) and their kids for dinner and then swimming back at our hotel pool. It was nice visiting with them—I can’t even remember the last time we saw them!

Sunday it was off to Water Country to meet up with Lisa & Timmy and their kids for a day of fun in the water! They were visiting Williamsburg for a week’s vacation so we were more than happy to come up and see them!

I didn’t take my phone and didn’t have a waterproof camera, so we didn’t get a ton of pictures…but we did get a few. Owen took a little bit to get comfortable playing in the water, but once he did, he had a blast! It was enjoyable for me as well since I didn’t have to worry about running around to all the rides…sometimes being eight months pregnant has its advantages!

Also, major thanks to Timmy for splurging on a cabana…that really IS the way to go for a whole day at the park!

Taking a break for ice cream!

COUSINS! Of course, Owen is the beast of the group…he’s almost 3.5 while the others (from left to right) are almost 6, almost 8, and almost 4. 😮

Mama, I’m floating!

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We have tried repeatedly to let Owen float in our arms, but he’s not a big fan (he ESPECIALLY HATES being put on his back, even when we have a secure hold on him). So I was a bit surprised when on his own, as he was holding on to the side of the pool (which we usually discourage, since it’s not meant for that), he let his legs float up behind him. And he was loving it! And of course he was splashing and hanging over so far the water was spilling out!

Owen being Owen in the pool:

And more Owen being Owen, this time going through phrases from three different books (see if you can hear lines from Hit the Ball Duck, My Daddy And Me, and Elmo’s Potty Book).

Pool tiger!

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He didn’t love this tiger when we first got it…he’s really too big for it (in our shallow pool) for him to actually sit with his legs through it (they touch bottom) so it just floated around the pool for a week or so. We did sit him in it like an inner tube and that was okay for a few minutes…but today he WANTED to play with it. And it was SOOOO cute—he just kinda put his head down on it and moved/floated around the pool for quite some time.

Closer and closer…

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So we had storms last night so today was pretty cool. At the warmest part of the day (when the sun was actually out) Owen didn’t want to use the pool…but then of course wanted to use it after dinner when it was too chilly. But, he agreed to play in his water table on the deck with his new water toy. Which lasted for about 10 minutes.

Then he started shooting the water towards the pool. And going a few steps closer to shoot at the pool. And then closer. Then he was getting water out of the pool (to use in his toy).

Pretty soon, he was in up to his elbows. :>>

I stopped him before he toppled over the edge. 🙂

Owen got a pool!

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Well, I guess technically we all got a pool… 😉

After some thought, I decided I’d rather spend the money on a smallish above-ground pool (even if it only lasts for a season) instead of $400 for the three-month Country Club pool pass. (If you remember, the community pool is close, but the hours and dates stunk, the kiddie pool wasn’t very good, and it’s quite expensive.)

This way, I don’t have to convince Owen he wants to go during the limited hours they’re open (and be upset that we’re wasting money when he refuses to go), I don’t have to haul everything down there (toys, diapers, snacks, sunscreen, water, towels, etc.), we can easily work around his nap schedule, and when Katie arrives we can be outside when she’s napping and I don’t have to drag her along. Oh, and Tom and I can use it when Owen is napping or after bedtime.

So, we did a tiny bit of research (I asked for recommendations on Facebook and read Amazon reviews) and we ended up at Walmart picking up a 12′ x 30″ pool. It sat in the house for a day, during which time Owen was very excited and kept asking daddy to build his pool. 🙂

It took Tom quite a bit of work to get it set up (it has to be on very flat ground, and nothing in our yard is flat) but once it was up and filled and tested, we were good to go. Except then Owen refused to go in. |-| And once Tom physically grabbed him and lifted him in, Owen clung to him like a spider monkey.

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It took a good five minutes before Tom got Owen’s feet in the water, then deeper, then setting his feet on the bottom…and then Owen LOVED it.

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Then daddy had to get out to start grilling dinner, so it was mama’s turn with Owen.

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I think if we wouldn’t have had to eat dinner, he would have stayed in all night. 🙂

One last community pool visit…

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It still grinds me that the pool closes after Labor Day weekend—it’s the south, it stays warm a little later than that. :## So anyway, this was probably one of our last visits…and he had a blast!! (I just wish he’d remember that every day when I ask him if he wants to go and he has a meltdown because he doesn’t want to go.)

Pool fun!

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My mom has a group of friends that meet every Wednesday night for dinner. Tonight’s happened to be at the Ramada Inn where one out-of-town couple was staying, so we were invited to come early and use the pool. Of course, we knew Owen would LOVE it—and since we don’t typically pack swimsuits and swim diapers for a winter trip to Grayling, it was off to Kmart.

Needless to say, Owen LOVED the kiddie pool. He stayed and played for over TWO hours, and I know he would have stayed longer except it was time to eat (which, as an aside, he didn’t care about at all since we were right next to a ping pong table and he was obsessed with watching the ball and trying to catch it).