Enjoying Our Outdoor Living Spaces

After finishing the patio and building the deck furniture, I mentioned that I thought we'd be spending more time outside, enjoying our outdoor living spaces. That's already proved to be the case.

My dad was here for a short visit last week, and while he was here we sat out on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the sound of the birds.

Our property is beautiful this time of year.

We've eaten several popsicles at the table. Though I have to say, River has not quite figured out the whole popsicle thing and makes a big mess. Which is, of course, why we're eating popsicles outside and not inside the house.

We bought a little rigid plastic kiddie pool and have used it several times down on the patio. Our weather hasn't been quite as hot lately, so the cold well water hasn't been super enjoyable for River, but Sunshine has been enjoying it. Sunshine and Mr M wanted a bigger pool, but I wanted something easy to fill and drain and not requiring any extra steps, like inflating walls. Because lets face it, if there's too many steps involved, I'm way less likely to say yes when Sunshine asks if they can play in the water.

All our trees mean we can't leave a pool filled with water- there's way too much crud and tree poop that would end up in it and have to be cleaned out before every use. Filling it with clean water every time is a lot easier, and filling a small pool minimizes water wasted.

Sunshine determined to enjoy the little pool, River unsure about joining her in the cold water, me soaking my feet.

Sunshine trying to convince River to try the water, but you can tell by his arms that he's not excited about the idea.

Mr M dumped a couple pots of hot water in the pool, so River ventured in, but still wasn't sure about the whole thing. He'll be much more willing when the weather heats up.

While the pool isn't big enough to do more than get wet in, it's better than nothing and I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of it this summer, especially once the baby's born and we stop making trips to pools and lakes. There's no way I'm taking River to a pool or lake with a newborn to take care of as well- River loves water way too much for that to be a good idea. It's also nice to have a place to set the pool that's up out of the grass and mud, and the patio chairs are conveniently close for adult relaxation and supervision.