Beaches and Pools and Things

I'm getting very behind in blog posts. I have lots of photos, but no time anymore since I started my job. I have a few minutes now that Dhara and Elora are in quiet time, Anya is doing word cross puzzles (!) and DH is mowing the lawn.

The job is going great. I still have a slightly unsettling feeling, as my probation isn't over until Sept. 1, but I love the folks in the office, and the work is great, and they just gave me an iPod Touch to use, and I just got a brand new computer, two monitors and 2TB (!!!) of hard drive space, and I sit in a cubicle about the size of a large dog crate. Ok, I don't love that last part, but it's temporary, I'm told. We'll have new offices cubicles by late August. I also joined the athletic centre, and I'm hoping to work out over lunch times and get into shape. (I'm hoping for slightly less round, as far as shapes go.)

Speaking of shape, Jennifer is looking really good. She's still seeing a nurse every day, and she tires easily, but she's getting well. The Husseseses' came over yesterday and we had a good visit and went to the beach. We went to Nipissing, which was pretty wavy, and the kids had a blast jumping around and getting splashed with the waves.

Anya is improving tremendously with her confidence in the water this year. Having a pool (briefly) helped, and I spotted her doing the dog paddle without a floaty thing, which is new for her.

During the really hot weather a couple of weeks ago, we decided to replace our splash pool. The old one was not fulfilling its job of being a pool, namely: a) inflating and holding it's shape, and 2) being capable of holding water. So DH went to buy a new one and came back very proudly with an 8' round ring pool. It was great. Very large. Held a lot of water. The only snag was that suddenly we needed a pool pump, chemicals, pool net, pool cover, pool boy, etc.

We set it up, and patiently waited a few days for it to warm up. Our back yard is not the sunniest of locations, and even after emptying the hot water tank into it, the water was still pretty frigid the first day. We decided to get the salt water system, instead of regular chlorine, and it worked pretty well. I appreciated the non-chloriney-ness of the pool.

The only snag was that it was now impossible to let the kids out into the yard unsupervised. That was a problem. DH started to build a plywood fence around the pool, but ultimately it was decided that, sadly, our yard is really too small for a separate pool enclosure. DH took the pump system back to the store, where they reluctantly took it back. The next day we went out and bought a small splash pool for the kids, which we can put in the front yard where it's sunny, and then dump when we're done. Good enough.

The three girls are signed up for swim lessons at the beach over the next three weeks, which is a pretty awesome deal. I was thinking about the Y, but then the kids would have to be members to take lessons. I'm hoping Dhara and Elora will be inspired by the other kids in the class and be more inclined to get their faces wet.

I do want to go camping soon, too. Maybe even rent a canoe. I still need to see the kids swimming better in their life jackets though.

Other things to share:

-I found a really cool site that tells you whom you write like: http://iwl.me/

You copy and paste a few paragraphs into this website, and it tells you whom your writing style most resembles. Apparently I write like David Foster Wallace. I have no idea who he is, but after reading a few reviews on Amazon, I think I may start reading his stuff.

-Jennifer, that cup of coffee you left at my house made a really good iced smoothie. Just so you know it didn't go to waste. Yum.

That's it for now. I may get around to posting again soon, but I may not. Happy Summer, if I don't see you!