So back to what matters most.

I finally got the pool open and working. Sort of. Yes there is the matter of a leaky pump/filter set up due to the changes in manufacturing standards for pumps since the original was installed some twenty years ago. I'll wager the new pump lasts only a fraction of that time despite its cost. But the delays on the part of the warranty company mean little, our new pool robot shark cleaning machine has arrived and that is exciting! Yes my oldest boy asked his mother "does the robot shark have a face?"

"No" she said "but you can paint one on with your dad if you like." Of course he's esctatic about this activity. I was thinking we could make it look like an old thunderbolt or the bow of the M/V Bob Barker.

But not today. Today like all of America we're preparing for the 4th of July holiday. Threat of a possible severe storm arriving at our celebration location will not deter us unless it knocks the hotel down before we leave our house (and we learn of this) but I suspect we'll be keeping our reservation.

You know what I can't believe is how much preparation goes into 15 minutes or 20 minutes of pool time for the kids. I've gone into battle with less preparation and a lighter load out and I only took them to the back yard! The oldest is afraid to come off the steps so he might as well play in a plastic 6" deep pool in the front yard. The Panda likes to jump in but only if I'm holding her hands as she does so and as soon as she hits the water the first words out of her mouth are "done!" What do you do with that?

Garden Daisy. That's what I did. I went to wally world and bought this plastic spinning daisy lawn monster that hooks to the hose and irritates the Sierra Club for how much water it wastes. The kids stood there squealing and making funny faces at it for as long as they had played in the pool. The sun is less intense in the front of the house and they're in no danger of drowning from the daisy so I might just get another one and a hose splitter so they can have a spinning clown faced chinese plastic daisy gauntlet to run through with minimal supervision. I considered that playing in the fresh water that toy sprayed all over the yard as a shower for them after the pool swim time so its good practical fun. My wife still made me give the kids a real shower after wards but I know it crossed her mind to let the hose down in the front yard count as a shower.

I guess I had to take them inside to brush their teeth before bed anyway.

But my secret fears that one of the kids would drown as I did as a toddler are evaporating in this heat wave. I never mentioned my secret fear because I think I knew it was irrational and maybe projecting my own fears owing to a childhood with an unusual (for Americans) death toll or near death experiences.

Please be careful out there though folks, July 4th is the most dangerous holiday so please don't become a Darwin Award and I'll see you next week.