Pool

This year my husband and I splurged on an above ground pool for the kiddos. In years past we've done sprinklers and the little $20 kiddie pool. This year we made a $100 initial investment on a 12' almost 3' pool for the kids. It even has a filter, chlorine dispenser, etc. I know that may not seem like a splurge for some folks but for us it totally was!

So the kids have TOTALLY been loving the pool. And by kids I mean my 4 and my niece and nephew that also happen to be my neighbors. When we first set it up we didn't realize it took chlorine and we didn't have a bucket for the kiddos to step in and we didn't have a cover for it. It only lasted about a week before the water kinda started turning green. YUCK! So we drained it, cleaned it, and set it up again, but this time we did all the fore mentioned things that we had not done the first time. That was about 3 weeks ago and the water is still nice and clear! We also bought a skimmer and do that daily.

Today I FINALLY gave in and put my bathing suit on and joined the kiddos. The 100+ degree weather made watching unbearable. At first it was just refreshing, but then it was SO much fun! We stayed out for hours! I was the "momma piranha"! It was SO SO much fun! I blew up my raft and we had fun all trying to fit on it, swimming under it, dumping each other off of it, etc. I also showed the kids how to make a whirlpool! We would all swim/walk really fast one way and then just stop. The water would pull us down! It was so fun! I will now be sporting my bathing suit on a regular basis. Maybe not in public, but most definitely in my own back yard!

As much as we love our pool we are having a serious issue with it. It requires these "D" filter cartridges. Last time I was at the local store we got all this mess from, I bought all they had, luckily, cause they've not restocked. Not only have they not restocked, but they don't even offer the products on their website! I finally found them on ebay for 8 times what I originally paid for them! Are you kidding me! I'm peeved! How are you going to sell me something that I'm not going to be able to use for more than a month? I've emailed their customer service so we'll see where it goes. We are down to our last filter!

UPDATE:

The store I got the filter/pool from no longer made or had the filters. They told me I could bring the pool back for credit on a new pool. We ran home, drained, and pack up the pool to get back before the person who told me that left. So they gave me my money back on a gift card. Yay! Or so you would think. They didn't have anymore pools. NO ONE DID! So I went home and did an online search. AMAZINGLY there was ONE store that had ONE left and we got it!! I also bought every filter they had so I'm good for the rest of the summer.

The lesson here is buy the filters upfront! That way you don't have to go on the hunt!