Remember that summer?

In ten years, we'll all sit around and say "Remember that summer we...? Good times, goooood times." The summer I speak of is this summer and the thing we did was get a "pool". I use the term pool loosely since Henry and I jokingly call it the "water tarp" because it's one of those cheap pools from Wal-Mart with the metal framework of powder coated tubular steel that supports a large cylindrical glorified vinyl tarp. Although now that I think about it, it's kinda more like a "naked pool" because it's essentially a pool liner without the pretty shell on the outside so I guess it is a real pool. Anyway, I had the idea to get one because the kids always want to go "swimming" in the summer and I only have two hands and four kids, none of which can actually swim. This is further complicated by the fact that the little two need to be in the baby pool and the big two are too big for that and I definitely can't manage two kids with water wings and two kids in floating rings in the big pool because I am not an octopus.
The pool was part of the boys' Christmas gift, an attempt to get them something useful that won't lose pieces all over the house. I figured that a pool was a great thing since we could all use it, and it's outside ergo not a video game, and it requires them to move instead of just sitting. Besides, a little time in the sun is good for them and they might just learn to swim, a useful skill indeed. The pool is only fifteen feet across and three and a half feet deep so they can stand in it to play basketball or if they try to swim and it's not working out they can just stand up. Even Kinsley can stand up in it, so that's a bonus. It's big enough for us to all get in but not so big that it takes up the entire back yard or takes forever to physically clean. It's also a good "starter pool" because I have a healthy fear or water/drowning, and if the kids can't respect the pool/follow the rules, we can just take it down and be done with it. Since I got the pool at a steal on clearance at the end of last year (Regular price: $249, Clearance price: a mere $75! WOOT!) I knew that if things didn't work out the money lost would not be a huge deal. 
Here's what's happened so far:
1. We had to move the back fence to make room for the pool which we had wanted to do anyway so this was a good excuse.
2. We had to borrow a tiller to somewhat level the ground.
3. We had to get a load of sand to protect the bottom of the pool from anything crazy that might work up through the ground. Dirt+ a tarp+sand+another tarp= piece of mind and hopefully protection from rocks, sticks, damage to the pool, damage to feet, etc.
4. I read up on and decided to use a saltwater system instead of just dumping chemicals in it all the time. I ordered a saltwater system.
5. I visited a pool supply store, purchased salt, did the necessary steps, took my water sample back to the pool place for analysis, determined that I needed to add more salt. I also learned that a pool is like a puppy and that you have to train it well in the beginning and keep at it or it will misbehave.
6. I decided that I wanted to switch to a sand filter system instead of a cartridge filter one. I ordered the sand filter. (This hasn't arrived yet)
7. It rained.
8. It rained more, followed by high winds and hail. 
9. We had to drain hundreds of gallons of water from the pool because it kept raining. Had I known this was coming, I could have saved a fair amount of money
10. I temporarily gave up on the saltwater system and got a floating chlorine dispenser to use until it stopped raining.
Remember that summer that we got a pool and the only thing we spent was money and time maintaining it because June decided to pretend to be April and it was too rainy or cold to get in it and mom got those huge biceps from all the sweeping and vacuuming she had to do to keep it clean? It's a great workout I must admit, but it's not the one I had in mind. I'm sure that it won't be this way all summer as the weather will get dry and hot and I'll be able to sort out the chemical levels in the pool and maintain them instead of just hoping for the best until things level out ie. it stops raining so that I can figure out what's going on, fix it, and keep it that way. We have actually been in the pool a few times so it hasn't been a total loss so far, but I look forward to getting a tan while floating in it. ~Kellie~