Pool & Movie Day

End of July, our pool on Courtney closed down due to leaking problems, so to get the most of it before, I tried to take the kids a lot the last week. The very last day before the closing, I took the kids very early as soon it opened on a Sunday, and we were the only ones there. The kids had the whole kid pool for themselves and had a great time playing and running around!

The only ones at the pool- the ones in the big pool are the life guards that are cooling off.

Super divers! Getting all the things from the bottom of the pool!

Picnic lunch at the pool!!

Cheese!

Ready for the big pool!

After the pool, a shower at home we decided to go to the movies at 3pm. Cassie came with us to the movies, something that isn't very common anymore! We watched the new Ice Age movie, the kids thought it was good!

Lazy Pool Afternoons

Not always, but sometimes, Cassandra joins me and the kids at the local pool for a few hours in the late afternoon. That's when we normally go, as it's not as hot outside, and it's not very crowded.

These pictures are from about 2 weeks ago, when we went a lot and I mainly had to stay in the kid pool, as I wasn't able to take them into the deep pool yet. The kids didn't mind, they were playing around, diving for things, practicing swimming and having a good time with some toys and playing with friends.

The light in the pictures doesn't shine very bright, and the reason is because it's just an hour before sunset. Most of these days, we also had cloudy skies, but even if it doesn't look like it's that hot outside, don't let the sunlight fool you. We still have most days an heat index of around 120 Fahrenheit/48 Celsius. The humidity isn't fun, but something that you just have to deal with.

Practicing floating!

Hot Summer Days

In the end of June, we had two weeks with really hot weather. Right after the rainy season finished, the heat index spiked up around and even over 120F. The highest we happened to see on the app, was 122F, that's 50C!! Crazy hot and humid, as it was 100 % humidity and one got sticky and sweaty just walking to and from the car. Spending too much time outside during these days was more or less impossible, and any outdoor activities like playground, riding bikes or other adventures were out of question, the only thing we could really do was to go to the pool here on our base.

I was still healing and wasn't allowed to go into the water, not in the pool or the ocean, and to still make it possible for the kids to play and have fun, I hung around the edge to the kid pool as the ocean would have needed more things to carry, more umbrellas, cooler bags etc to howl with drinks. Too much effort for me to take the kids when I wasn't allowed to carry much, so the pool was the best option. Not the easiest to sit there in the heat, but were able to get some breeze through the walls and I made sure to try to go there on cloudy days or late in the afternoon when the sun wasn't high on the sky.

Day 1 by the pool:

Day 2 by the pool:

Day 3 by the pool:

 The kids got new masks..

The kids were happy, and they wore themselves out and were very tired in the evening after dinner. It takes a lot of energy to jump around, swim and dive for hours!

Pool Time

A regular afternoon at the pool here on base. As we normally don't have the car during the weeks, I'm pretty bound to do things with the kids close to home. Cassie and I could with no problem walk to the pool and even to the beach, but with the little ones in tow, in this heat and humidity, that's not possible. Here and there though, I take them in a cab for an afternoon just for fun. This was one of the afternoons last week. As our swim lessons didn't really work out the way we had planned, I have to try to keep up the training and work with them myself as much as we can. 

Someone wasn't so interested in swimming, rather lay and enjoy the shade 

(and her new phone..)

 Exhausted after a lot of swimming, resting on the bench before we went home.

A pool groupie!

Pool Time Before Typhoon Time..

So, as always, lots going on here at home and not having the time to update as much as I'd want to. But with the kids at home 24/7, the focus is on them and making their summer a good one and the computer time is put on hold.. The weekends are our special time where we try to make little adventures, but this past one got wasted, as the typhoon came around on Friday. It was meant to hit sometime in the afternoon, but as lunchtime came around with still clear blue skies and notification that the typhoon had slowed down, I decided to take the little kids to the pool for some fun times in case we would be locked up inside for the rest of the weekend. Chris was obviously working and very busy right before the typhoon, so he didn't have time to come home so I could have the car, so I took the little ones and grabbed a cab.

Cassie, our social butterfly, was not at home. She had been picked up early on Friday morning for a early scheduled birthday party that was supposed to be on Saturday, but due to the typhoon they had decided to have it on the Friday instead. The party was held in a water park, so she had a fun day ahead, before the storm too!

No car seats for a 5 minutes ride on base, but with lace covered seats! 

Most people were probably still preparing for the typhoon and were too busy to go to the pool, so we were almost the only ones there. Great when it's not so busy, and I could work a lot with the kids on their swim practice. I made them wear their "arm floaties" and then I had both safe in the pool. Then I could take one at the time and take the "arm floaties" off and focus on that one and practice. It worked out very well, and Ben is catching on very well, and loves the water. Isabella still needs some encouragement here and there, but is doing better each time we practice. 

Some pool side snack and lots of water breaks are needed!!

We ended the day in the play area, they had lots of fun playing with their toys and  also met some friends to play and share with. Ben also did awesome diving to the bottom picking up his toys! He was so proud, and so was I! As long as they think it's fun and like the pool, the swimming will come along great! Lucky for us, the season is pretty long here...

More snacks and water before packing up and getting ready to picked up by daddy!