In-ground Spa

This is the in-ground spa in our yard. It's pretty big - 12 ft at it's longest side and 9 ft across at its widest point. I did not want a pool or spa in the yard - not excited about the expense and potential liability. But, it came with the house, so I'm sure we'll learn to enjoy it. I thought it would be like a home chemistry project - add some chlorine, adjust the pH, test with little color strips. However, this spa was messed up. The previous owner completely neglected it and so when the green goop started growing, the realtor dumped an unmeasured amount of chlorine and acid into it. So, it was crystal clear - and totally toxic. The acid started eating away the copper pipes in the spa heater so there was way too much metal in the water.
I spent a whole week going to the pool supply store every day to have my water tested and buy some product to fix the water - metal remover (a chelator), "alkaline-up" (just a buffer, really it's just baking soda), dry acid, chlorine tabs, "conditioner" (not for your hair, it keeps the chlorine from evaporating so fast.) Still, the water was murky and weird.
So I called pool services for quotes. I needed someone to get it into shape. I am completely ignoring the yard. I'll get to it after we move in and work on it gradually (even though some patches of grass are thigh-high). But, acidic water can ruin the spa equipment and cost us a lot of money. If I can get a pool guy to clean it up (and vacuum out the dirt at the bottom), I can probably maintain the chemicals from there with Nathaniel scooping out leaves for me.
After 4 days of the pool guy coming every day, it's ready! But I didn't bring my suit. Darn!

Memorial Day Weekend Getaway

We took a trip out to "The Desert" as they refer to the Palm Springs area around here. I pricelined a couple of nights at a resort in Rancho Mirage early in the Memorial Day weekend. we headed out Thursday right after school for a break. The hotter it gets in Palm Springs, the lower the prices are because most people like to go in the winter when there is snow at their houses. Since our activities involve early morning golf before it heats up, and the pool, that works out great for us.
(The pictures are a bit out of order because I don't know how to move them around in the blog-post format.)
Here's Chris and Nathaniel as Ben and Jerry. If we find a Ben and Jerry's when we are on a trip we try to hit it as often as possible (it is a vacation after all.)

Davis had just received the game "Go" for his birthday and brought it along to the pool. The directions were not written by a native english-speaker and there was more strategy to the game than I could grasp. I'll have to look up the rules online, but for this game, Davis creamed me.

The rows of windmills are always neat. I think wind power should be used more. Think of all those windy canyons that could be producing clean energy. (Brett, you should set up a windmill in your yard.) We arrived in time for dinner and a swim before bed. Bedtime came early (it always does at our house anyway) because Chris had a 6:30 tee time the next morning (aka - sleeping-in for Chris).

Friday morning I rode along with Chris as he played at one of the resort's golf courses. He was the only one for the first tee time and we didn't see another golfer on the course the whole 18 holes. It was really fun riding along and watching him play. I have started to hit balls at the driving range. I'd like to learn how to play but I would be way to slow to play on a real golf course now (searching for balls in the rough, hitting 12 over par on each hole...)

Here's a shot of Chris in a power swing. Look between his ankle and the rock in front of him and you can see the tee flipping up into the air after he hit the ball. The course was beautiful too. What a fun morning. The course was really nice, and they drive your breakfast out to you on the next hole after you place your order at the 9th hole snack shop.

This is Chris lining up his put. Not really. He was just goofing around because there was no one on the course but us and herds of cotton tail rabbits, some jack rabbits, a gaggle of road runners, and some other birds we would have needed Davis to identify.

We were back to the boys (who ate Cap'n Crunch cereal in the room and watched cartoon network) by 9:30 and changed and went to the pool for the day. Armed with sunscreen, magazines, an audiobook, and a game, we headed to the pool for the day. Since it was a vacation, we indulged in smoothies on the lounge chairs under the sun umbrellas and the boys ordered lunch which was brought to them poolside. Palm Springs has a Knott's Soak City water park, but the resort pool had a slide that we enjoyed for no extra cost.

Above was Nathaniel, and immediately above, Davis on the slide.

Here's a shot of Chris flipping Nathaniel in the air. I think the stream of water being flung from his britches is pretty funny.

The blur above the pool in this shot is Davis in mid-air. This is our evening swim after dinner Friday. As you can see, we pretty much had the resort to ourselves all day Friday. Holiday weekenders showed up on Saturday, which wasn't quite as fun, so I'm glad we went out a bit early. Next time I think we'd go the weekend after Memorial Day.

Saturday morning Chris played the other golf course at the resort. Davis wanted to ride along with him. He was unhappy that we didn't bring his clubs, but he's not ready to keep up on 18 holes yet, and the course was fully booked this time. He cheered up when Chris told him he could drive the cart. He had a great time with Chris and Nathaniel and I ate breakfast by the pool, swam, and saved some lounge chairs until Chris and Davis could join us. We went home after having Ben and Jerry's for lunch and had Sunday and Monday to relax before going back to work and school.