There is exactly one reason there is a pool in my backyard - it was free. A friend of a friend said, "You can have this for free if you just get it out of here." The small above-ground pool had spent a few years in her yard and she hated it. It sat below the shade of a huge tree, so the water was never warm enough and the leaves were always falling in and the whole thing was a hassle.
But for an afternoon's worth of tear-down, I was cool with making it our hassle. The price was certainly right.
I wouldn't have been willing to pay even $100 for a pool. I did not have one growing up and I never cared. We went swimming at the public pool about twice per summer. I never wished for more. That has a bit to do with the fact that I didn't learn to swim until 5th grade, which was GREAT because one of my friends was a lifeguard during the classes when I was learning to not drown. WAIT. It was the opposite of great. It really muchly sucked because she was a jerk about it.
(Funny thing, that. I should have dumped her as a friend after that, but I didn't. She went on to become an even bigger jerk. Listen to people when they tell you who they are, y'all.)
My point is I allowed the pool to end up in our yard because it was free and despite the fact that I couldn't care less about having a pool. It just doesn't appeal to me.
I'm outnumbered.
It has been warm enough for swimming for, what? A week? Maybe two? Mila has lived in that water since them moment she managed to convince Alexis that it was a good idea. The two of them have spent their evenings wrinkly and wet and happy.
So happy.
You can sit in our backyard and just listen to giggles. All they do is giggle. Alexis is on a mission to teach Mila how to swim while Mila is on a mission to not care if she can swim. She has a sister she can cling to and she enjoys sporting her floatie jacket (obviously missing in the pics above, but usually she has it on). It all works.
Which makes me wonder if maybe I missed out as a kid. Maybe if I'd learned how to swim a little earlier and spent a little more time at the pool, maybe I wouldn't still to this day think pools are dumb.
Really, the only thing they're good for is producing giggles. I swear it.