'Memorial Day,' or 'How the Houghs Sort of Reclaimed Their Yard'

Last time I touched base with you guys, I mentioned how we had set up our pool.

Remember that?

Well, as it turns out, we did discover a small, pin-hole leak in the pool - one that slowly and eventually grew into the size of a quarter.  What prevented the leak from being noticeable before was the fact that it was directly on the bottom of the pool, which meant the water was leaking out very, very slowly.  We knew something was up when, each morning when uncovering the pool, the pool was slightly lower.

Oh yeah, and the ground was soaked.

Not awesome.

'Soaked' doesn't really do the situation justice, though.  Our yard was soggily saturated with water (that better?)- anywhere you stepped, muddy water rose up through the grass to drown your feet.  How much of this was the pool leak and how much was the broken sprinkler line running from the exterior waterline to one of the side yard sprinkler heads remains to be determined (yes, it's been one of those summers so far).

Summer's First Hero.

Long story short, I purchased an underwater, vinyl patch kit off Amazon and, one day after work, jumped in the pool and fixed the sum'bitch.  Meanwhile, Kris ordered a plumber to come out and - thank God - the line leak to our sprinkler system wasn't anything serious.


Now summer was on.

Making cupcakes for Abby's class, commemorating her 'technical' birthday.  (We like doping other people's kids up on sugar whenever possible.)

A beautiful, gay rainbow, following our daily, afternoon, torrential downpour.

Classroom cupcakes.

Remember this Don Bluth gem? All Dogs Go to Heaven has been a daily staple these last few days, which I'd take in a second over the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. . .

Abby opening presents from Grandma and Papa John (this, I believe, is a Periwinkle Dress)

Skypin'

With the pool repaired and the levels in good shape, we've been getting some serious action out of the pool this last week or so. . .

Both girls have gotten a lot better with swimming on their own. . .

This Memorial Day weekend was definitely spent outdoors.  The weather down here was awesome (if not hotter than Hades), and after many hours of yard work - toiling with weeds, overgrown tall grass behind the house, insects, and even pit bulls (seriously) - we spent the majority of the day in the pool.

The greatest thing about letting the kids swim in the pool is that it wears them out like nobody's business. . . which makes putting them down for naps a total breeze.

Enjoying an afternoon pipe, having spent the morning lounging on my newest toy. . .

The S.S. Nap Time.  Perfect for sunbathing while the kids are napping and the sun is at its zenith.

Matching sunglasses.  Not sure if that was planned or not.

In closing, here's a picture of an abandoned, black, baby doll Alayna spotted on Orange Blossom Trail on the way home from Sunchild the other day.  Rest in Peace, kid.

- Brian

Resurrection of Pool

Good evening, Internet.

Note Kris, hard at work.

So, as the weather starts to heat up and the air continues to grow more soggy with each passing day, I decided that it was about damn time to set up the Hough family pool.  I didn't want to wait as long as we did last year, waiting until mid-June to set it up (not that we had a choice last summer, what with moving into a new house and all, but still. . .), so we ordered a ground cover off of Amazon and started the long, shitty process of 'getting our swim on.'

"Hey, wait a sec - that's not where you set it up last year, is it?"

Very observant, reader.  No, it's not.  Last year, if you'll be so good to remember, we set up our pool along the side yard, where the ground was flatter.  Unfortunately, we failed to clear the land beforehand, so when we lifted up the pool, we were left with a 13ft-wide, stinking disaster of rotting, dead grass that stunk up the entire yard and took days to clear out.  Oddly enough, this dead patch of filth and disgustingness filled in with awesome grass without the aid of grass seed or fertilizer (don't ask me how that happened), and now our side yard has awesome grass.

In contrast, the area of yard surround-ing our trees is pretty crappy.  In the areas where we dug up trees, we have patches of weeds, areas where the grass didn't fill in well enough, etc.   Not very eye-pleasing in the slightest, and I'm a stickler when it comes to yardwork. Therefore, despite the fact that the ground itself was uneven and full of peril, I decided to place the pool directly off the back porch.

Sure, it took a few days of hacking and slashing through the top-soil, raking up grass, pulling up leftover tree roots and stubborn weeds with my bare hands.  I was sore for days, and my hands covered in cuts and blisters, but, by the end of the week, the earth was flat and ready to rock and roll. . .

These potted plants had been left for dead.  I threw them behind the shed because I didn't seem them springing back to life any time soon.  We had never seen them bloom like this, either, so you can imagine our surprise when, randomly while setting up the pool, we looked back and saw this insanity popping up from the shadows of the shed. . .

While the pool began to fill up, we took a break to head inside.  Kris wanted to try making S'mores for the girls.  Marshmallows, chocolate. . . what kid wouldn't enjoy s'mores, right?

Our kids.

Abby came around eventually.  That didn't surprise anyone.

Alayna, not so much.

I blame the marshmallows, personally.  Kris bought marshmallows that were the size of grown man's head, and somehow deemed them 'legit' to serve betwixt two graham crackers. 

This is a long, nerve-racking process, filling up one of these stupid things.  They advertise the ease of doing so, but it obviously isn't as 'easy' as Intex swears it is.  One has to get down on their hands and knees, smoothing out the bottom of the pool before the water pressure per square inch makes it impossible to eliminate the creases and crevices that can trap and encourage the spread of algae.

Tools of the trade.  (Jesus - I really need new flip-flops)

We resumed filling the pool the next day, waiting to see if any of the water drained out into the yard.  You don't want to discover a leak after wasting hundreds (or thousands) of gallons of water filling up a pool to its brim.

Fortunately the levels held, so we were good to go.

Behold the Summer '13 Hough Family Pool.  I'll have to hit it with calcium, chlorine and stabilizer, but hopefully by next weekend it'll be ready for action.  Stay tuned for what I'm sure will be copious amounts of pictures of my kids swimming. . .

- Brian

Papa and Nana's Annual May Excursion, Pt. VII

Hey gang. . .

Well, seeing how it's May now and everything, it's time - once again - to import some grandparents.  This year, unlike the previous few, Dad and Cindy would be flying down to our neck of the woods sans the Whites, and would be staying at the Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort for a more laid-back, pool-heavy, and attraction-free stint in America's Wang.

Behold:

Another conversation for the ages.

The Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort - a convenient 10 -15 drive from our house.

One of the great benefits of having Papa and Nana swing down for their bi-annual visits is their willingness to take our children for hotel sleepovers, sometimes even multiple nights in a row (yes, my parents are insane).  Not only do the kids relish sleeping in a hotel for the night, but, without kids in the house, Kris and I get to sleep in past 7am. . . which happens, you know, NEVER.

The first morning after their arrival, Dad and Cindy invited us over to their resort for a full-day excursion in their pool. . . which is slightly nicer than our Intex model.

The kids were big fans of the resort. . .

Trying out the playground with Nana. . .

This waterfall scared the shit out of the girls.  Who knows why.

This kid's going to be a handful in ten years.

Ready for a full day of sun and chlorine. . .

It took a full morning of coaxing before Abby braved Fountain Island. . .

Kris' Mother's Day bracelet, courtesy of one of the kids (forget which one)

I didn't know things like this existed. . .

As mentioned in previous posts, Alayna's been an active member of the Peace United Methodist Church's Little Rocks Youth Choir.  Every couple of months she's got some 'concert' she's involved with.  This time around, for Mother's Day, Abby would be making her vocal debut for a packed house at a morning church service. . .

We weren't sure how'd she do with hundreds of people watching her, but Abby - like her sister - nailed it.

Back at the resort, after another day of swimming in the pool. . .

Out for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. . .

'Daddy's Coffee.'

It's always a crapshoot when eating out at a nice restaurant with kids, but our kids were actually pretty well-behaved.  I attribute you this to the fact that they were somewhat worn out by swimming in the sun all day.

Margaritas for the road.  That's how the Houghs roll.

Breakfast at Papa and Nana's.

John Young Elementary School -  where Alayna will be going to school for Kindergarten in the fall. . .

One of the reasons why we bought the house we did was because it was zoned for this school, which is one of the highest rated elementary schools in the city. . .

Like many schools down here, the school is little more than a series of portables connected by covered walkways, with larger buildings used for an auditorium/cafeteria, gymnasium, administrative buildings, etc.  Fortunately, by the time Alayna hits first grade, construction will have wrapped up on the fancy, tech-savvy, new building that will replace all these portables. . . so we're not too concerned.

We were at John Young Elementary for some 'meet the teacher' Kindergarten round up sorta thing.  Super boring, and not very informative if you already had half a brain when it comes to how schools work.

One of the reasons we wasted two hours there was so that Alayna could see the inside of some of the classrooms, meet some teachers, some fellow incoming students, and do some arts and crafts.

Once the kindergarten thing was wrapped up, we headed back over to the resort so the girls could hang out one more day in the pool, etc.  They also got to feed the ducks with Dad and Cindy, which, obviously, was a huge hit. . .

- Brian