Beach or Pool?

We recently decided to take the plunge and get a quote to put a pool in.  It has been such a hot summer in Queensland this year that it seemed the sensible thing to do.  Also we have two small children that LOVE the water, and from my experience there is a window of about 8-10 years that kids live in a pool before they turn into teenagers and hibernate in their rooms.  Then there are all the other reason, like increasing resale value on the house, etc.  However as it is with a lot of properties these days, we would be sacrificing our back yard for the pool.  For 5 months of the year, this wouldn't be a problem but for a family with kids who also LOVE kicking a ball around the yard and jumping on a trampoline, it really is a sacrifice.

However we went ahead and got a quote : $45,000.....  We soon learned to love our backyard as it is.   And we have been learning to love our natural environment much more then we used to.

So whilst we can't walk out the backdoor into our own pool, we can jump in the car and drive 10 minutes down to the beach or local rock pool and have just as much fun.  Whilst the water might not be a crystal clear as a pool, we can roam around the beach at low tide finding hermit crabs.  The kids can jump in sand puddles, explore and get grubby.  The latest thing we have discovered is the skimming board.  It took a while to convince Miss 6 and Mr 4 that it would be fun, but now they are on it we can't get them off.  Thankfully I am hugely pregnant so it is "Dads" job to run up and down the beach pulling them on the skimmer board.  Great workout.

Happy Summer

Jen
www.shimi.com.au