Pool Finale

With the pool closed for the winter, I thought we'd post the last of the fall's pool videos. Riley's been so sad that the pool has closed for the season. We're hoping to take her to the university's pool soon (it's heated and indoors).

Fun in the Sun

Here's part two of our adventures at the pool. We are very lucky that our complex has such a nice pool area. Did we mention that it is about 500 feet from our unit and that we get free wi-fi there? Very nice indeed.

I love this first video. It really shows just how uninhibited Riley is when it comes to the pool and getting her face wet. Granted we are going to have to monitor this as she gets older, but since we don't want to buy a house with a pool (it's a deal-breaker for us), we're not too concerned.




Here are Riley and Cam partaking in one of their favorite pool-time activities: tip-toeing along the edge. I'm not sure how clearly I captured the fact that Riley is literally scaling the side of the pool, like a crab. Too cute!

Pool time!

While on our cross-country trip, the one thing that saved all of us from cabin fever at the hotels after long days of driving was a pool. It all started after our first day of driving. We pulled into a Best Western and while we were checking in, Riley spotted the pool from the lobby and went nuts! She wanted in so badly! Thus started a tradition of nightly swimming which continues to this day. It's a great way for Riley to get out some pent up energy after eating and a great way for us to tire her out in hopes of an easy time putting her to bed.

What the times in the hotels and the first day here taught us was that Riley was incredibly comfortable being in the water. So we went out and bought Riley a "Poolmaster Learn-To-Swim Tube Trainer." While she looked a little funny when we first put it on her, it was just what she needed in order to gain a little confidence in the water (and to give Cam's tired arms a rest!).

Here's Riley entering in to the water by herself!



What's great about the orange inner tube suit is that it allows us to just let Riley go off in the water without us having to hover. The pool that we have at our complex has a 5' max depth. This lets both Cam and I stand in the deep end (me on tip toes) and still be able to get to Riley quickly if she needs us. Not that we let her go off too far by herself, but we don't have to be right next to her always. In fact, she now can swim to the stairs or the pool's edge by herself. We do often remind her to close her mouth when her face goes in the water, but she is such a natural. I love her little legs kicking and her arms paddling. While we don't have it on video, Riley has referred to this as "paddle dogging." LOL.



One of Riley's favorite things to do now is to spin around and around - the inner tube obviously let's her stay above water - so she has a blast going around and around. In the video that you'll see the same girl from the previous video - she has quickly become Riley's favorite people (notice how Riley just follows her after she jumps in) - she's a nice girl and always has a smile for Riley and comes over to say hi.




We have more really good pool videos to share, but I'll leave that for another post. But here's a hint - Riley's a good jumper!

Lounging in the Pool

An empty pool, but a pool nonetheless. No seriously, she's one crazy baby huh? :) Although admittedly, for the first little while, that was some of the calmest moments we've ever seen from her. That girl is non-stop action. It's no wonder she wanted to relax and stare up at the trees.