I'm Melting!

Well, this has definitely been the summer of the ninety degree day in Minnesota. Adjectives like blast furnace, sauna, tropical rain forest, Death Valley and H-E-double hockey sticks have been thrown around with much frequency. We are not used to this kind of heat for so many days. When the humidity index hits three digits we have to run to the supermarket and dive under the broccoli sprayers to keep cool. Our thick Scandinavian blood just doesn't flow fast enough to reach all areas of our anatomy. Mainly the brain. My blood flow to the brain must have been extra sluggish lately, as we recently purchased a swimming pool.

All of this Sahara type weather was starting to make me delirious. I was hallucinating an oasis in the backyard regularly while mowing the brown carpet that used to be grass. During one of these sweat induced dreams, I envisioned an Olympic sized, in-ground, lap pool with high dive and hot tub. What I could afford was a fourteen foot inflatable ring pool with deluxe three step ladder.

Oh well, it doesn't matter what size the pool is, just as long as the water is wet. Right?

Anyway.......A couple weeks back I had time to take the pool out of the box. I found a good level spot and spread the pool out. I found the valve to inflate the ring on top of the pool. I didn't have the right connector so I tried to blow it up myself. After ten minutes of no progress and a lightheaded, dizzy feeling, I staggered to the neighbor to borrow the right valve. After inflating the ring, I put the filter pump together. It took me a while to realize that the instructions were indeed in English and were indeed for my pump. Let's just say I used the 'trial and error' method for most of the assembly. Luckily for me, the parts that were left over didn't look too vital.

So, with the pump assembled and the ring inflated, the only thing left to do was to fill it with water. Sweat Pea (the fish) was very excited for the new pool. She was also very helpful with the set up. From the beginning, as I was opening the box, she was there with words of encouragement. "Can I swim yet? Is it almost ready?"

Her excitement took a big jump when the garden hose was actually place inside the ring. Then the jubilation doubled as I turned on the water.

"I just can't wait to swim!!", she sang. "Can I get my swimsuit on?"

"Well, it might take some time to fill the pool.", I told her.

She wasn't really listening so I went in to fix supper. She held the hose for about an hour before she realized the pool would probably not be filled by bedtime. It also took a few days of ninety degree weather to sufficiently warm the water enough to keep blue lips and chattering teeth away. It takes a lot of sunshine to warm that much water.

Well, it doesn't have a diving board, water slide, or water cannon. It's too small for floaties, water volleyball or even Marco Polo. It doesn't even have a heater. But the kids sure have fun swimming in it. They share a squirt gun in the pool. I don't know why they share one, because we have about a dozen squirt guns in the garage. They also share one snorkel to explore the interesting leaves and bugs that have met with misfortune at the pool's floor. Dad also likes to get a good run at the pool and...........Cannonball!!! Our pool may not be Olympic sized, but it sure does the trick to cool us Minnesotans off on a hot day.

Who knows, maybe we will put a couple nets on it this winter and practice some ice skating and slap shots. That's something were a little more used to around here.

Although, N1S is a miracle child to us, he really isn't walking on water in this picture.