Opening of the pool...

Well yesterday was pool opening day, we always do it around the May long weekend.  It was a hot and humid day and the mosquitoes were rampant.  We have an above ground pool and in the winter it gets a cover put on so all the leaves and whatever else doesn't get blown into the pool water and so it's kept clean.

So yesterday we had to pull that cover off, it took six of us to make it happen.  You see it gets covered with water from rain and melted snow and so you have to drain the water off first but as we were doing this we realized that we were actually draining the pool as the winter cover is no longer water proof and the pool water was seeping through.  So we ended up draining out about two feet of our pool water and would now have to add that much more water.  We eventually got the cover off with the help of my parents and my niece.  Three of them got into the pool and hoisted the water filled cover off.  And I must confess that I was rather grumpy doing this because it was such a challenge.  We weren't able to drain all the water off the cover because water from the pool just kept seeping through and so we had to try and lift the cover with the remaining water on it.  But what may seem like a small amount of water is actually very heavy.  So I was getting a little irritated because it just wasn't working smoothly and it was hot, humid and the mosquitoes were pestering us.  If mosquitoes were like ants in their ability to carry great weights compared to body size and were able to help us we'd have had that cover lifted in no time :-)  I had mentioned that in the summer I should move to the arctic to get away from the humidity but my dad said the mosquitoes in the tundra could just carry you away...so that won't work for me, I'll just put up with our little guys here along with the humidity.

Well once the cover was off it was time to scrub it.  After having that rotting leaf infested water sitting there for so long it smelt like a fish hut, for those of you who don't know what that smells like, it stinks.  I'm very thankful for my husband, even though he has allergies he was on his hands and knees scrubbing that cover while all I had to do was hold the water hose and keep the water running in front of him while he scrubbed.  Of course to my great delight I did spray him every now and then with that frigid water.  The rule is I can spray him but he can't spray me...I know it's very unfair and one day he'll get me back, hopefully it's a super hot day :-)

My husband has been living on this for the last couple weeks.

It's also tradition that no matter what the temperature of that pool water our kids all jump in, well three of them do, the eldest isn't much into swimming so he stays out.  Though this year only Jocelyne did the big plunge because Charissa is in Oregon and Matt wasn't around.  It took her a bit to get in but eventually she braved it and went in. The water was that much colder because we had to run more well water in which is quite cold because of all the water we had drained out.  And as is tradition I took some pictures as well so another year of the opening of the pool and plunging in is documented.

Jocelyne heading in...

...to that super cold water.

Well you know where I'll be on those hot and humid days, cooling off in the pool so as to keep the grumpies away :-)  I can usually handle about three days in a row of humidity but any more than that and I turn into a bear.  This is one of my weak areas and I'm sure I'll have opportunity to work on it this summer ;-)  

Apple blossoms from my mom's apple tree...aren't they beautiful.