Last night, the four of us headed over to a cousin’s house to attend a High School graduation party. The younger cousins were in and out of the pool for HOURS. It’s always amazing to see the amount of energy these little ones have bottled up. I don’t think I got up out of my seat unless there was food involved. A little rice pudding was a ton of motivation for me.

Anyway, my town doesn’t allow pools unless you have a certain amount of land. That rule is in effect to force the residents to use the town pool (which is ridiculously awesome this year btw). It promotes community and I always enjoy making my way over there because it’s a guaranteed play date (for both me AND the kids). But sometimes, I think it would be nice to just throw the kids in the backyard. Yesterday, we were all just lounging around while the kids were playing a few feet away. No running around.

Then again, who wants to deal with leveling the chemicals etc.??? I would bet my right arm that Bill and I would fail miserably at that task. Our friends own a hot tub and they say it’s the worst purchase they EVER made. Too much work to keep it open. Most years, they don’t even bother.

Me? I had a sprinkler growing up. So, this is all new territory for me.

Are you a pool person? Is it worth the effort? Is the effort manageable? Do you hire someone to come in and do the work? Or is it something you can figure out on your own?