Saltwater Swimming

Last year we put up a pool. I slaved at trying to keep it clean. No matter how many chemicals I put in the pool it was always cloudy or slightly green. I has happy to see the pool get put away for the winter time. It was a lot of work trying to get that pool to stay clear. This year, I did some research and found one of theses.

A larger pump and a saltwater chlorinater. I can not say enough good about that little saltwater pump. It cost about the same amount of money as I spent on chemicals the summer before and it claimed to be less maintenance. Let me tell you all that not only is it easy to set up, but it has kept our pool crystal clear for about two months now. The only thing I have done is vacuum the bottom and scrapped the bugs off the top of the pool. When I say crystal clear, I mean you can see right down to the bottom. You can see every last piece of sand on the bottom. I love it and the kids do too.

Belly Flop!!!!! The boys call this jump the Belly Buster. Either way it looks painful. This pool has been a life saver. We are in it everyday. Last night they all swam until dark. They love it.

Even Little Cowpoke can swim around with his "swim suit" on. The swim vest has given him the extra confidence to do this.

Little Cowpoke has gotten to be such a great little swimmer. He will now put his head under and kick like crazy.

Have I mentioned how clear this water is? Not one bit of cloudiness. And the salt makes the water feel soft. My blond hair doesn't turn green from chlorine. Oh, and the pump has a timer on it so I don't even have to remember to turn it on or off. Simply wonderful.

Big Cowpoke likes to ride around on the lobster. Little Cowpoke is scared of the lobster because it will buck you off. I had to laugh when I saw this next one.

Does anyone else see any resemblance? Big Cowpoke wanted me to take some pictures of him under the water. I told him that I could not go underwater with my camera. He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "No, mom. You take a picture of me under the water while you stay right there." I knew that, I was just trying to be funny. But I guess I wasn't that funny. I was never that great of a comic.

The boys had fun playing in the water. Then they both quickly got out of the pool and said they needed the bathroom. So, while Cowpokette and I sat on the back porch and played, the boys ran inside. When they came back out the both quickly jumped into the pool. Then they were silent. I could see their heads and I could see them swimming so I knew they were all right, but I had to see what they were doing.

Uhm....well, that is one way to snorkel. I asked them what they were doing? Big Cowpoke said, "Remember when I saw this at the store but it was bigger and I wanted one and you told me no? Well, I told you I wanted one. So, now I am using this. Can I have a real one?" I love how that boy speaks in run on sentences. Big Cowpoke even had Little Cowpoke doing it too.

I had to do some serious convincing to get those straws out of their hands. I was really worried one of them would go under and take a deep breath in of water. But they handed me their straws and I promised to find some snorkeling stuff. What will those two come up with next?