Pool!

 Finally!

After years of dreaming, months of planning and days of filling, our pool is finally functional. Although the water was too cool for me, Timmy could not be dissuaded. There was nothing that was going to keep him from swimming. 

Even though the water temperature was a brisk 68, my little water bug swam for nearly 3 hours. He finally climbed out of the pool cold, hungry and tired. Needless to say, he slept very well!

Here's to a great summer of pool fun!

 

Farm Fun

 When we learned that our delivery of pool water would take a minimum of three weeks we decided to fill it up ourselves. While we aren't delighted with the idea of drawing so much out of our well, the extremely wet Spring makes us more comfortable with the notion. Over the past few days we have been cycling our hose on and off. 

Slowly but surely, our pool is filling. Right now we are around 24 inches deep. We have another 14-16 inches before we can turn on the filter and start swimming. Hopefully we will reach the level tomorrow or Thursday. The temperatures are going to skyrocket and I can't wait to start swimming in our own pool.

Yesterday, between work and running outside to tend to the hose, we squeezed in a visit the farm. Timmy had a blast jumping and playing. He was especially delighted that his Daddy was there to play. Having somebody other than me at the farm with him is always a big treat. (I try to not take it personally.)

 

Happy Birthday Koopa

My apologies for not writing on Friday. Thursday afternoon our internet was knocked off line which left my tech addicted family in a tizzy. We were without internet, phone and television until it was finally restored Friday afternoon. I had to use my hot spot for work and simply didn't have the data to upload a blog. Thankfully everything is restored and we are again hooked up to our favorite devices. 

This past weekend was a big one for our family. Not only did we celebrate Scott's last day of work and honor Memorial Day, but on Sunday my sweet not-so-little Koopa turned 15. I am in awe that my little baby is now a full blown teenager. It feels like just yesterday I was writing about the antics of Robby Rotten. Now he is taller than me and every bit a teen boy. 

I am so proud of the young man that Robby is becoming. He is growing into an amazing young man, so full of empathy and curiosity. His interests and passions are so unique- from devouring American and military history (especially WWII) to saving baby sea turtles. I am amazed by his confidence to walk his own path, even when it is so drastically different from his peers.

On Friday I received an email from his teacher enlightening me on his volunteer project through the year. Robby never mentioned a word to me, but that is indicative of his style. He volunteers freely and quietly.

 

I learned that over the course of the year he orchestrated a letter writing campaign to some veterans residing in local nursing homes. He secured the addresses and the postage on his own so that he could mail the letters that he and his "squad" wrote during their break each week. Isn't that cool?

Growing up with speech and hearing issues hasn't been the easiest path, but he has managed to grow stronger as he learned to effectively advocate for himself. I feel a twinge of pride each time I see him eloquently explaining his hearing issue and requesting assistance. He feels no shame, or if he doesn't he doesn't let it show, and he lives his life without regrets or excuses.

Sometimes I am sad when I think about Robby as a little boy. But then I look at my caring, compassionate and interesting teen and I feel both excitement and pride. I am looking forward to watching him grow and expand his wings. 

 

 

Waiting

 We are still waiting for our water delivery. At this point, Scott and I are contemplating filling the pool from our hose. We figure if we run the hose three hours a day, the pool will be full in a few days and the well shouldn't be strained. At least, that is our hope.

I'm so frustrated that we haven't received a response from any of the pool companies we contacted. It feels like nobody answers their own phones these days. I've left at least a dozen messages and have only received crickets as a response. Out of desperation, I have even resorted to sending Facebook messages to the companies. 

Thankfully we heeded the advice of a friend and filled our pool with a few inches of water after it was erected. Not only were we able to refine the leveling, but the water added some weight to the frame. Yesterday a strong storm roared through our area, hitting us with 60 mph wind gusts. We had a few trees in our yard relocate, but our pool stayed in place. 

Fingers crossed we get our delivery today!

Tadpole

 Grrr....

After months of waiting and years of dreaming, we are so close to swimming. We are continuing our trend by waiting again, this time for the pool water delivery. I suppose we could fill the pool from our well, but it seems unwise to draw that much water from a relatively limited source. Hopefully the water will be delivered today or tomorrow. Waiting is so hard!

Unfortunately, one of our little tadpoles passed over the rainbow bridge. None of us were surprised by his death. The poor little tad was laying sideways, gulping at the bottom of the tank for days. I tried changing the water but nothing brought him back to health.

Thankfully Scott found him first and was able to scoop him out before we woke up. Timmy was upset when he realized that there were only two swimming tadpoles where there had been three. All morning he refused to call me "momom" choosing, instead, to call me "tadpole killer." As much as I tried to explain that I did nothing to hasten the death, he was adamant that had to be my fault.

As luck would have it, he was learning about the lifecycle of a frog in class. He immediately piped up and told his teacher that he had tadpoles. True to Timmy, he also put his own spin on the tadpole death. "Well, let me tell you something. It's a good thing that I was born a Timmy and not a tadpole. If I was a tadpole I would be dead because Momom kills tadpoles. It was my lucky day that I am not a tadpole." 

His declaration put his classmates into a tizzy, causing the class to go off the rails. I'm pretty sure Timmy's teacher is counting down until the end of the school year as much as us!

Ready for Summer

Our hot temperatures yielded to cooler weather and rain. I am glad for the break in the heat, but the rain keeps us from our pool water delivery. It feels quasi-torturous looking at an empty pool in my driveway. I can't wait to start swimming with the boys.

Since we couldn't play outside yesterday, we spent the majority of the day knocking out school assignments and work projects. The boys are quickly coming to the end of their school year. If they push, they should be done by the end of next week. I am going to nudge them as much as possible because I'm ready to call time of death on the 2020/2021 school year. 

 I'm ready for summer!

Swimming Success

After years of dreaming, months of planning and hours of YouTube videos, our new pool is sitting intact and level on our driveway. I can't wait to get it filled with water and to start swimming with the boys. While I still don't think the location is ideal (I would have preferred the backyard), marriage is about compromise and it wasn't worth the battle. I'm simply delighted that we finally have a pool!

The weather wasn't ideal for set-up. It was humid and 92 degrees. While it was obscenely hot for installing a pool, it would have been perfect for swimming. As we were all sweating and red faced, it was easy to keep our eyes on the goal.

Contrary to other home projects, this one progressed rather smoothly. We all worked together on the task and there were minimal complaints. It was nice having the kids so involved with the set-up process. Timmy carefully laid out the pieces around the perimeter while Robby helped us with the heavier tasks. By the time we were done, everybody was proud (and tired) after a job well done!

Now we just wait for the pool water to be delivered. I can't wait! This is going to be an amazing summer.