Is it time for a swimming pool yet??! Have you ever thought that there would be a day that you were unable to purchase a pool? It did in fact happen. So we had to figure our how to build a swimming pool. But lets rewind for a minute. I live in the Midwest, so naturally I’m fortunate, or unfortunate to experience all four seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter. I say unfortunate because there is a season that I can really do without, winter! Everything about winter just irritates me. I am naturally a cold person so having to venture out into the elements is truly a double whammy.

Now, there are three times when I can truly appreciate the snow, one being on Christmas Day. A white Christmas has always been magical, especially because we can observe it from the windows amongst the Christmas lights; then I would be perfectly happy for it to melt on December 26th. We have daughters, so the other two times that snow was acceptable was when I was watching my dear husband happily play outside with our girls. That was certainly a benefit when he was here. He enjoyed being out there and I had the perfect job of snapping the photos of family time and then hustling back into the warmth to make hot cocoa.

He was so great with them during the winter!

The very last thing that I can appreciate is watching my youngest make a snowman even when there is hardly any snow!!  Both girls are great at making regular sized snowmen but I’m always fascinated when a snowman makes zero sense. My little one can make a snowman out of hardly any snow. If snow is slightly in the forecast, a dusting even, she will make it happen.

Snowmen Over Swimming Pools In The Winter

So why am I going on about this? Because in the midst of the horrid winter that I am presently in, I have to find a silver lining. Now, I’m going to get on with the purpose of this actual post. HEAT! Spring and Summer!!! Why? Because I need something to look forward to. Everyday I wake up and say spring is almost here. The day after Christmas I am convinced that spring will be here any day now.

There is one summer that will always go down in the books in this household. The dreaded Covid year of 2020. That year clearly had a ton of downs, but it also had plenty of ups. Being home, essentially trapped with the family was a period of cozy comfy fun for many of us. I’m sure there were plenty of others that may not have enjoyed that family time due to different dynamics. One thing that’s for sure, those of us with little kiddos needed to make sure that we had things to do. All of the activities outside of the house were shutdown which meant we had to be creative.

Another thing that many people (at least us) did not anticipate that summer was just how popular home swimming pools would become. It seemed impossible to purchase a simple pool. By simple I mean, we were not about to install an in ground pool. Our yard is rather small and we have zero interest in making that kind of investment. However we didn’t know that purchasing an above ground pool was going to be such a challenge. There was no hope in buying a pool. Everything was sold out.

Time For A Swimming Pool 

Enter my ingenious, mathematical, engineer minded, I can do all things husband. One day he said, “I have an idea”. Now, he loved to read and research, but he was also known to come up with stuff and just make it happen without much due diligence, and more than often quite successfully. Chris was called on from many people to implement many things. He was truly the brightest, kindest and most giving person. One day he said, I’ll just build one, to which I said build one what? A swimming pool! So you can imagine my initial thoughts of confusion, and knowing him, I just said OK. His goal was to create a temporary inexpensive solution for the circumstances at hand.

Chris included the girls in everything that he ever did. He always wanted them to learn new things. So together they proceeded to even out our very uneven ground.

The next thing that they did was dig holes and add the poles and cement:

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After the ground was made even and the posts were added, he then affixed plywood. Chris was so committed to getting this pool finished in enough time for the girls to enjoy it before the summer ended. He even worked when it was raining (if you can’t tell, I’m recording from the window). He was the most determined and hardest working man I have ever known. They had the best dad, he was the best husband. One thing that additionally brought me joy was ripping out part of the fence. It had been installed by the prior homeowner and was long overdue to be replaced. Chris had plans to do that the following summer.

I absolutely love how he never minded that his little girls were always around hovering and learning. They were so excited.

The next steps in how to build a swimming pool was to add a liner of sorts. He added a clear plastic tarp and then added a thicker blue one. He chose this to make the girls feel like it was a real swimming pool, which of course it was!

It was finally at a point when he was able to add some water and the girls were here for it. He was right, it was going to be seriously a lot of fun.

He quickly built a ladder so that the girls could climb in and added a pump. Additionally he still managed the yard, and he even began to add additional wood just to make it look a little prettier, for me. I am over the moon that he created this moment and was able to enjoy it with the girls. He was so humble and I was unbelievably proud. Only Chris would come up with something like this on a whim. He always came through. And the fact that he included them in every part will forever stay with them. He was big on learning and teaching them. They were never in his way, it was always and opportunity.

This particular summer was much cooler than expected, but for the time that they were able to use the swimming pool, when the temperature permitted, they were in it.

Even though he didn’t get the chance to finish the pool, he really made our last summer together a fun adventure. It was simply magical for the girls participating in such a fun project. He never ceased to amaze me, his brilliance in everything was unparalleled. He really could do anything he set his mind to. I remind the girls who there father was, whenever they feel like something is too difficult. He always said if something can be done by someone else, there’s no reason he/they can’t do it also.

This post was all about how to build a swimming pool

…and make your little girls smile