Saddle up your Horses!

This week is VBS at our church. Last year I volunteered and enjoyed every minute of it. But this year, I decided to give someone else the opportunity to fill that need. I've become one of the "drop-and-run" parents and I'm loving it :) This year's theme is "Avalanche Ranch, where kids take a wild ride through God's word!"

So, while Alex & Morgann go to Avalanche Ranch every day from 9-noon, Ian and I are enjoying our quiet time together. Right now, he's quiet...and I'm really enjoying it :)

Now, if the rain will just NOT come today, maybe we'll be able to enjoy our backyard oasis of fun! Granted, enjoying it means sloshing across a muddy backyard where the grass is too tall, fighting the mosquitoes that are at epidemic levels this year, and freezing our tooshies off should we dare to enter the pool - rain water makes it very cold! - but, hey, at least it won't be raining.... So, here's to hoping for a dry, rain-less day :)

Update: 11:20AM - It's raining - hard! Darn it....

A Good Day

Yesterday was a busy, busy day for us! We started by leaving the house by 8:40AM, heading off to the grocery store. But, this wasn't just a quick trip; it was a full-blown, full-cart, serious grocery shopping event. And, with summer in full-swing, I had absolutely no choice but to load up all 3 monkies for the adventure. Generally I choose not to take them with me, but we were desperate - out of literally everything - bread, lunch meat, fruit, juice, etc. We had nothing to eat for lunch, unless we wanted to suck peanut butter off of a spoon, but since Alex hates peanut butter, and I prefer mine with bread, I figured I would just have to suck-it-up and go. So, we did :)

After more than an hour, and a few extra sugary-sweet treats that I hadn't planned on, we were heading home to unload. The kids did remarkably well, and we even received a few words of praise from the store employees on how well they behaved! I was still a bit frazzled from trying to keep their squeels and laughter to a quiet roar, but I felt proud that my kiddos made it through the store without so much as a sniffle or whine! Granted, I'm not going to bank on everything always being that easy, but at least it was a good start to the day :)

Once we got the car unloaded (which turned into a 3-ring circus since all 3 kids wanted to help carry the bags into the house) I quickly separated the pantry items from the fridge & freezer items, put all of the cold items away, then loaded up the kids for yet another trip to the store. This time it was our local Target. It was here that Ian had a small melt-down, including a few high-pitched screams, but once I settled him down we made it through with almost no additional hoopla! By this point, my confidence was building.

Once home again, we happily (and quickly) ate our lunches, then headed out the door for a 3rd time. This time to play :) We made our way to my friend D's house where we loaded she & her son, then off we went to the bowling ally. Last week, while at the bowling ally with her son S, she had managed to secure a couple of free bowling passes (valid daily through the entire summer) for both Morgann & Alex. So we decided that an indoor game of bowling sounded like a splendid idea - and apparently the entire city of Tomball did the same! I don't think I've ever seen so many kiddos in one bowling ally in all of my life!!! They were everywhere, and, unfortunately for us, hogging all of the lighter kid-sized balls! So, it was up to me to help both Morgann & Ian when their turns came around. We made it through the 8th frame (with only one incident of the ball getting stuck on the lane because it just wasn't rolling fast enough), then decided to throw in the towel.

Our next stop, for the first time in almost 2 years, was the library! And, before you scold me for not taking the kids there more often, you have to remember that I have a very loud, hard-to-handle 2 1/2 year old little boy. I very rarely venture into a store with him, much less to a library where the #1 rule is to be quiet!!! But D had told me about a Science class they were doing with Bubbles, so we figured that it would be loads of fun for all ages. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we not only found out that the class she was told would be outdoors was being held indoors, it was limited to 50 children who's parents had made reservations. As you can imagine, we were all very disappointed. But, the librarian gave us a little sliver of hope by suggesting we stick around to see if maybe there would be a few spots left-open by 'no-shows'.

So we sat...for 30 minutes...hoping for at least 2 openings. While we sat, all of the kids found a few books to read, look at or discuss. Everyone of my kiddos was being extremely well-behaved, and my confidence was growing by the minute. When we hit that 30 minute mark, a well dressed, soft spoken woman came into the children's section and announced that they indeed had 5 spaces available for children aged 5-12, so off Alex & S ran, big smiles across their faces. But as you can well imagine, we also had a few tears from poor Morgann, who hasn't quite reached 5. She was completely heartbroken that she couldn't see the bubbles, and my heart hurt for her. It's no fun being too young. Thankfully, we were in a library full of books for her to look at, and D & I took turns reading to her, so her mind was quickly focused on other things, with thoughts of the bubbles all but vanished.

And so we sat, reading books to the remaining 2 kiddos for more than an hour! And, can you believe that little Ian had only 1 minor melt-down? I had to scoop him up and run him out the door into the hallway, then explain that if he didn't stop his tantrum, the library 'people' would make him go outside, by himself, without his mommy. His eyes got sort of big at that thought and he quickly quieted down, lifted his arms to me and said, "hode me". Of course, I couldn't say no to that, but my little false-hood worked - we had absolutely zero tantrums for the remaining afternoon.

By the time we finally made it back home, it was well after 5PM and all of us were completely worn out. Ian took a brief nap in the car between the library, D's house and home, but even he was still exhausted. What started out as a crazy, scary day, turned into a wonderful day for all of us :)

And, if you can believe this, I'm planning another library trip next Wednesday....someone talk some sense into me, will ya?

A Jumpin' Good Time

Daddy making the kiddos 'jump higher'!

Daddy making the kiddos 'fly' while Ian crawls to safety!

Mama Chris (Michael's mom) getting in on the act, and having to take a breather!

Ian catching air :)

Hope all of the daddy's out there had a great time making fun memories with their kiddos, and a wonderful Father's Day!!!

Just another rainy Saturday...

It's raining, again, and here we are, trying to set-up more playground equipment in the backyard! What's with the rain? Why can't it rain during the week when Michael is at work? Why is it that the heavens choose to empty on Saturday when Michael is home and we are attempting to work in the yard?

The rain has been off & on all day, so we've been in & out trying to setup our new trampoline - the one bought by the grandparents on the same Memorial Day that the first pool was purchased! It's been sitting in boxes in our garage, precariously laying on the ground between the 2 cars for several weeks now. Getting in & out of the garage without running over them has been stressful; avoiding them and not hitting the side mirrors on the brick walls while backing out or driving in has been even tougher, though I'm happy to report I've managed to successfully maneuver my van with no accidental dents or damage!

I'm also wondering about the death-wish Michael & I seem to have? I'm sort of tired of all of this manual labor!!! Isn't there someone we can call that will come do all of this set-up for us? You know, like movers - you just call them, then sit and watch them pick-up and load or unload a house-full of furniture and boxes; you don't even have to break a sweat if you play your cards right! So anyway, I'm wondering why we haven't hired someone to come make our backyard fun? But, no, we're doing it the hard way, one spring at a time. We started this morning and have gone back & forth between cloud-bursts all day - it's now 5:26PM. We're inside for about the 3rd time and still have lots of work to do. We managed to get the trampoline all set-up and in jumping order, but now we're working on the safety net.

Another beef I have...why is it that safety makes everything so much more difficult? Michael says that safety means 'no fun' and I'm beginning to agree with him. The trampoline was a piece of cake to set-up - the safety net that goes around it will take hours! So, while I sit here trying to dry out for the 3rd time today, I'm weighing the pros and cons of just letting the kids jump around without the net (for instance: PRO - the trampoline is finished and doesn't require anymore work; CON - ok, so maybe letting someone fall off the edge onto their head isn't the best choice a parent could make when considering the well-being of their children; at least the trampoline would be finished!)

Enjoy the pictures while I keep thinking...















P.S. No, it isn't even slightly chilly here! At the first sprinkle, Alex ran inside and grabbed his water-proof winter coat and gloves so that he would stay dry.

Everyone loves a Jumping Party...except Ian!

Today was our MOPS Leadership play date, a day set-aside for all of the new MOPS leaders for next year's group to get together, some of us actually meeting for the first time! Each year we set aside one morning to meet, visit and play, before diving into the planning phase for next year. As we did last year, we decided to go to a local inflatables party place. If you haven't ever experienced one of these places, you must find one - or open your own local franchise - because they are so much fun! Both kids and parents can jump, slide and climb to their heart's content. I always get such a workout when we go to this place, because my kiddos usually insist that I follow or lead them around the entire time we're there. We all get totally exhausted, but have a blast doing so, which makes my sore, achy muscles all worth it!

Today I happened to be lucky enough to (1) remember my camera for the first time in a very long time, and (2) catch an action shot of Alex & Morgann coming down one of the slides together. The other picture was taken of Ian, my less-than-enthusiastic non-jumper. For whatever reason, he opted to stick close to mommy today, as long as mommy wasn't on or inside of one of the 'cawy tings" (read scary things). He is usually right in the middle of the fun, but today, not so much! Oh well...

Me and the Boys

I spent the entire day with my 2 boys, and it was gloriously more pleasant that I would have dared to dream! With Michael out of town for the weekend, and Morgann off to the beach with my sister-in-law for the day, I had prepared myself for what I figured was sure to be a really tough, long day. But, thankfully I was very wrong in my assumptions.

The morning started out earlier that I had anticipated since the kiddos didn't get to bed until midnight - yes, you read that right! It's a long story, but I went out with some friends for a spur-of-the-moment girl's night out and it was wonderful! Anyway, since the kids didn't get to bed until midnight, I assumed that they would be sleeping in a bit later than 8AM. Sadly, I was wrong. So, the day started a little earlier that I had hoped it would, but that didn't turn out to be a bad thing. We ran all day!!!

As I mentioned, my sister-in-law took Morgann to Galveston for a girly day of fun, leaving me with Alex & Ian. My original plans were to load the boys up and to head to a friend's house for a day of swimming and rough-housing as only boys can do, but when I made a slight modification to those plans, it ended up completely changing the course of the day for us.

We started by heading to a not-so-close mall to drop off Michael's iMac for repair at the Apple Store. Once I arrived, I had to sign in, then wait for someone from their Genius Bar to help me out. Thankfully it was slow today, so the boys had computers to play games on while I sat for only 20 minutes or so. I left the store Mac-less (it's being repaired under warranty - Hallelujah!) and took the boys to the food court for lunch. Of course, everyone wanted something different so simply ordering and gathering our food and drinks took a good 20-30 minutes! Once seated, we had a surprisingly enjoyable, and thankfully, un-eventful meal, followed by a quick ride on the carousel - Ian & I stood by and watched Alex. Once the ride was over, we made a bee-line to the inside play ground for a quick 20 minute play time. Within that 20 minutes, the boys were able run off enough steam that once back in the car, Ian passed out while Alex sat quietly writing his "I miss you daddy" letter in the backseat.

From the mall, we headed back to our side of town for a 3PM appointment at the kid's hair salon. After the boys were appropriately shaved and glued (hair glue, that is), we ran home to quickly empty out the car of all of the toy cars, kid's meal toys, papers, books, Legos and other miscellaneous items that seem to find their way to the van over the course of a few weeks. My next stop was the oil & lube shop that gives you a free car wash (and vacuum) with purchase - thus the reason for the quick clean-out of the van. While at the oil change place, the kids started to complain that they were hungry and came to a consensus that they wanted pizza. The first place that came to mind was the little pizza joint up the street that had just opened - it's run by a giant mouse by the name of Chuck, and has a ton of games and rides that are sure to tire-out even the most awake of kiddos within only a few hours. So, I promised the boys that if they would continue their 'good' streak of behavior, we'd head that direction just as soon as the car wash was complete.

Next stop? The pizza joint. We ordered and ate, then played for another hour & a half - it's truly amazing how long 25 tokens can last 2 boys! By the time we left, I was ready for bed!!! But were the boys? Of course not! They both started begging for a movie night. Ian was really pushing for Feck (Shrek) while Alex wanted Flushed Away. I pulled rank; we watched the Apple Dumpling Gang since we hadn't seen that one in a while.

I'm happy to report that 10:30PM, both boys were put to bed with almost no fussing. I'm hoping that I won't be too far behind them because I'm completely exhausted. Currently, I'm waiting on my sister-in-law to get here with poor Morgann who is, apparently, in desperate need of a bath. I'm thinking that she'll sleep dirty tonight, and will get a bath in the morning (as will her bed sheets). Somehow, bathing her at 11PM doesn't appeal to me right now; and, as Michael always tells me, a little sand never hurt anyone! Let's hope he's right.

Born to be weird!

This is what Alex exclaimed as he rounded the corner wearing this:

He had just departed the shower, which would explain the soaking wet hair, but the choice of bedtime attire made me laugh. I couldn't help myself. I mean, look at him! I guess maybe he was making an attempt at creating a new super-hero?

You can't really tell what he has on, so let me describe his choice of wardrobe for you:
Black winter gloves covered by shin guards - on his lower arms
A hand-made Indian vest thingy he made in 3 year old preschool
His white Tae Kwon Do belt
Soccer socks
Pirates of the Carribean boxers

And let me reiterate that it was he who announced "Born to be weird" and not me :)

Throwing Caution to the Wind...

...my youngest son, Ian, now 2 1/2 has apparently found his bravery bone. The child that wouldn't touch the pool water with his big toe unless mommy or daddy were there to cling to on Sunday afternoon, has now taken to leaping off the 2nd step of the pool ladder without giving it another thought. Thank God I had already put his floaties on him because I was totally unprepared for his sudden leap of faith. Head plunging under the water, he came up with a shocked look on his face, then proceeded to talk himself through returning to the step (using his best high-pitched mommy voice, "kick, kick, kick, kick,....) then jumping off again...and again, and again, and again.

Gonna have to be sure he's never outside without me now, darn it - sometimes fear is a good thing, you know?

Oh well! Wish I'd had my camera because his smile was absolutely priceless :)

Gonna have to buy it!

Have you seen this book? Have you heard anything about it? Why is it that we've had to resort to writing books about this sort of thing? What happened to the things we used to innately do when we were kids - bike riding all over the neighborhood until it was too dark to see; playing hide & go seek in the backyards of everyone on the block with about 15 other kids; playing kickball or softball in the cul-de-sac; going door to door selling anything & everything you could think of to make 50 cents for ice cream from the ice cream truck; building a fort out of your mom's old sheets and tree branches? When did it all come to an end and suddenly change?

I am so going to get this book for my son & husband! Talk about male bonding time...

And then there was 1

Over the past week, Michael & I have set up a pool, set up a second pool, painstakingly transferred the water from the first pool to the second, emptied the first pool of its contents, rinsed & dried the first pool and the tarp underneath it, then folded it up and returned it to it's store of origin. It's been a very rough 6 days, but we officially finished last night around 7PM! Besides the fact that the grass where the 1st pool stood is crushed and pretty smelly - yeah, smelly like rotten fish! - the yard is what I would call a marsh from all of the excess pool water and rain we keep getting. I'm ready for the rain to stop!

The latest in chaos began last Monday, Memorial Day - a day that we will not soon forget! After our wonderful weekend get-away, Michael & I decided that a family day was in order. Our friends had just gotten & set-up a pool in their backyard, so we figured we'd head over there for a few hours of outdoor play. Disregard the fact that it was a dark, gloomy, chilly, rainy day, we figured a little rain water wouldn't hurt any of us. After all, the sun might peek through the clouds. And, getting out of the house, even in the rain, sounded much better than being couped up inside of the house all day with nothing to do.

Let me be the first to warn you all that rain water will indeed hinder the logic and reasoning part of your brain, because that's the only thing I can attribute the following events too!

When we arrived, the sun was doing it's best to shine through the clouds so we allowed the kids to jump into the newly filled pool. While the adults stood around watching the little guys swim and shiver from the cold, my friend D told me that the pool we were looking at was not the original pool they had purchased. The first pool was still sitting in their garage, awaiting it's eminent return to the store. She explained that they decided it was a bit too flimsy for their yard since the ground was a little uneven. Her hubby decided that they would be better off with a pool that had a more rigid frame. My first mistake was asking, "Can I see the first pool?" I should have just walked away, but I couldn't. My brain wasn't working correctly remember? When I saw the first pool, the picture of the family playing inside of it looked so tempting to me. I had flashes of my family happily playing in the cool water with the hot sun beating down on everything around us. Thoughts of not being bored this summer with all 3 monkies at home was too much for me to resist. As we returned to the patio, I found myself asking Michael if we could just buy the first pool from them. I explained that it would be perfect for us and our really big backyard, and how we would spend countless hours playing & splashing and building family-fun memories with our children. I even mentioned the fact that the box said "15 minutes to water" in big, bold letters across the box. I took him into the garage, showing him all of the wonderful gadgets included - besides the obvious, it had a pump and a vacuum! And it was such a good price too!!! We mulled it over, discussed the fact that we've talked about getting an above ground pool for 2 years now, and it really did seem like a good deal. Then talked ourselves out of it by reminding ourselves that we hadn't set aside the $200 it would cost to purchase. Then talked ourselves back into it again by remembering that I would be getting paid this week.

Let me cut to the chase by saying that after a bit of back & forth, we decided to relieve D & C of their extra pool, saving them a trip to the Big W to make the return.

Upon our return home, I unloaded the kids and started trying to figure out dinner. It took me a few minutes to realize that Michael hadn't come into the house yet, so I started to investigate. Low & behold, I found him outside with the pool beginning to set it up - in the rain! Ok, sprinkles, but it was trying to rain! So, like the good wife I am, I quickly changed clothes and headed outside to help :)

It took a good 2 hours of tugging, dragging and straightening, but we eventually felt like we'd found a good spot to set up our pool. After making a quick dash to the local toy store for an electric pump (me), Michael got the top tube inflated and ready for water. He then put the hose into the pool and thus began the fill-up. Well, the first one! After about 15 minutes, we noticed that all of the water was rushing to one side, which meant that the ground we thought was level enough, wasn't. Michael quickly turned the hose off and we started scouting out another spot. We figured that since there was less than an inch of water in the bottom, we would just drag it over to the new area - wasn't going to happen!!! Water is allot heavier than you might think it is. So, we had to empty the barely filled pool, move it to the new location, re-straighten it, then begin filling it back up. After another hour or so, the hose was doing it's thing and we were exhausted! After almost 4 hours of filling, we had reached the 1 foot mark, but it was nearing midnight and we were ready for bed!

The next morning as Michael left for work, he turned the hose back on. I had to turn it off and back on over the course of the day because of errand running, showers & baths, etc., but we're guessing that it took about 7-8 hours to completely fill. Hallelujah, it was finally done! Unfortunately it was also sometime after 10PM.

Since I had promised the kids that they could swim as soon as it was filled, that was the first thing they asked me when they woke up on Wednesday. So after breakfast, they all donned their bathing suits and were out the door waiting for the required adult supervision - ME - before entering their new playland. It didn't take long to figure out that they wouldn't be able to get in or out of the pool without the ladder, so we had to go back into the house while I attempted to quickly assemble it - with 6 little hands doing their best to 'help' me. Once assembled and in place, Alex was the first one in. His lips immediately turned a lovely shade of blue and his teeth started to chatter, but he insisted that it wasn't cold! As he splashed around, water started to slosh around a bit - as it would when someone is splashing and frolicking - then "IT" happened.

Water went sloshing over the side, which really wasn't that big of a deal. The big deal occurred when more water went over, which made the side wall collapse onto itself, sending more water over, collapsing the wall even more. Within no less than 5 seconds, we'd lost a foot of water out of the pool and there seemed to be no end to the spillage. So, I raced over to the collapsed side and pulled it back to an upright position. I was soaking wet, freezing cold, and quickly sinking into the saturated, muddy ground. I was standing in about 6 inches of water that had no place to go - I did mention it's been raining allot here didn't I? And, moreover I was a nervous wreck! I quickly pulled the kids out of the pool that I now deemed as un-safe and called Michael to tell him what had just happened.

Skipping ahead to the end of the day... By the time Michael had returned home from work, I had already been online looking for a new pool; something more sturdy and safe for kids to hang onto and play inside of. I had also called D to ask if by some chance she still had her receipt, since, as you might recall, they had originally purchased the now condemned pool. Michael was totally up-in-arms over the prospect of setting up another pool, but I wouldn't relent. I was completely convinced that we had to get the exact same pool that D & C had purchased because it was sturdier. It was also only $40 more and, in my opinion, well worth the extra money for the peace of mind it would give me...err, us! So, Michael reluctantly agreed that if the Big W would accept the return, we would do it my way and get another, better, safer pool.

The next day (this is now Thursday) I headed to the Big W to speak with a manager about the horribly unsafe monster that currently sat in my backyard, full of water and chlorine. She said that as long as I had a receipt, they would indeed accept the return and give us a full refund, so I marched home and sent Michael a quick email. The email informed him that when he got home, we would be heading to the Big T to purchase the other pool and then would figure out the rest later. Michael, being the sweet man he is, didn't argue (too much). When he arrived home, he quickly changed and readied himself for what lie ahead. While my younger sister stayed with the kids, we took her truck to the Big T and made our purchase.

That evening, with the help of T, my sister's boyfriend, Michael started the assembly process for pool #2. He completed the first portion prior to dinner (and darkness) and said that it was actually easier to put together than pool #1, that claimed "15 minutes to water". Unfortunately, the construction stopped for the evening, but we were at least on our way.

Michael arrived home earlier than usual on Friday to resume the construction of pool #2. We were all anxious to be done with this whole horrible idea of having a pool. But, were also looking forward to the reward once it would finally be completed. It took us less than an hour to finish setting up, and after a few location changes, we were ready to begin filling it with water.

Since we had just filled the first pool 2 days earlier with about 1600 gallons of water, we weren't real excited about doing the same thing all over again - our water bill is going to be outrageous! So, we figured we would simply siphon the water from pool #1 to pool #2. Sounds easy right? A big, resounding WRONG!!! We did successfully start the siphoning process with allot of arguing about the best way to do it, and a few false starts, but the water just wasn't coming through the hose very fast. So, in order to expedite the pool filling process, Michael added the regular hose to the mix. So, now we have 2 hoses filling up pool #2, one with fresh water from the tap, one with already chlorinated water from pool #1. By this point we were thoroughly frustrated and hot, so we decided to 'jump in'. While the water level slowly rose in the 2nd pool (about an inch an hour maybe), Michael, Ian & I splashed and played and cooled off.

It was at this point that Michael's frustrations actually produced a new idea. Since the siphoning wasn't really working, he decided to grab a bucket. Yes folks, you read that right! Michael started emptying the old pool into the new pool...one bucket a time! I just sat in the cool water and watched him work :) After all, there was only 1 bucket and I had to think about what I would fix for dinner.

(In case you care, I settled on ordering pizza and sent my little sis to pick it up.)

So, Saturday rolls around and the new pool is less than half full at this point. The siphon has stopped working - probably not enough pressure to push/pull the water through the hose - and we just can't bring ourselves to spend another $1 on more fresh water. So, I grab a beach pail, Michael grabs the mop bucket and Morgann & Alex both grab other beach pails. And so it goes. After more than 2 hours, Michael & the kids have successfully filled the pool another foot and are ready for lunch. (Notice that I didn't include myself in that sentence? I had thrown in the towel long before due to my mommy-duties of laundry and cleaning that had been neglected all week because of this whole fiasco). After lunch, Michael & Alex returned to their task, determined to get pool #2 filled. Though it wasn't even close to be finished, around 2PM Alex and his friend C jumped in for some well-deserved play time. Meanwhile, Michael's family came over for a BBQ dinner that we'd planned earlier in the week, with the intention of setting up a trampoline they had purchased for the kids. I think it's safe to assume that it didn't get set up :)

Sunday rolled around and pool #2 was finally filled - cue the angels singing The Hallelujah Chorus - but we still had pool #1 to deal with. With no way to get the rest of the water out of it, Michael & I rolled up our sleeves and prepared ourselves for some seriously hard labor. We pulled & tugged, inch by inch, to get the stupid thing turned over - have I mentioned that water is extremely heavy?!? - and just when we thought it was empty, it wasn't! Finally, when the last little trickle of water was dumped out, it was time to rinse it off! Yea! More water...on our already soaking wet, muddy lawn. And, remember the smelly grass? We discovered that little jewel when we moved the tarp that had been placed between the pool and grass at set-up. Let me tell you, grass that isn't completely dead, but is extremely wet, stinks really, really bad! My gag reflex kicked in about that time and I had to run away, far away, from the entire project. Thankfully, Michael was too tired to gripe at me for leaving him with it :) But, I did finally return to do my part in rinsing both the pool and the tarp.

While the 2 rinsed-off items sat in the hot sun to dry out, Michael, the kids and I jumped into pool #2 and finally enjoyed about 3 hours of fun play time. We even brought out all of the new toys we'd purchased - a floating ring toss game, 5 pool noodles and my floating chair. We had a great time together, just like the one that my brain envisioned while standing in D's garage looking at the picture of the happy family on the box of pool #1.

Was it all worth it? Ask me in a few months...right now, my arms & back say definitely not :)

*Stick around and I'll post about returning pool #1 to the Big W. That's a whole 'nother story all by itself...

Fun in the Sun!

Check out our new backyard fun :)

I will be posting the "How-not-to" guide on setting up an above ground pool over the next day or so. Suffice it to say, this pic should give you a hint as to what we've put ourselves through over the past 4 days...

More to come...check back later!