How the pool came about...

Two summers ago Gunnar came over to our house to have a campout in the backyard. I was still at work so Rillz had to hang with Gunnar for the afternoon. When I got off work I came home to Rillz and Gunnar filling up a pool. Wow. Cool. I wonder why we are now owners of a $100 pool. The story goes like this...
Rillz- I bought Gunnar a pool
Mindy- Wow that's a big pool for Gunnar
Rillz- I had to buy this one. I took Gunnar to Walmart for a kiddie pool and showed him the little pools. We walked down the pool aisle and he saw this one and wanted it.
Mindy- You let a 3 year old pick out the pool?
Rillz- I had to... he was about to cry. I couldn't have him throw a tantrum in Walmart. I didn't know what else to do. If he threw a fit, I might have hit him.
Mindy- Hahahaha! You panicked and gave into a 3 year old. How funny!

So, that is how Gunnar got the Rivera household a new big "kiddie" pool. The best... that first year Gunnar was afraid to go in it and didn't even use it at all.
Last year we didn't set it up. Just didn't have time. This year our backyard is a little more organized and we set it up. It would fit 4 adults hot tub style. Rillz was determined... this year Gunnar WILL get into his pool!
We had a bbq last week with Heidi and Kristi's family over. It was nice and sunny and Gunnar GOT IN his pool! He loved it and so did Brecken. Cami... not so much. I also bought a hammock on the 4 of July. So comfy. Love it!
We bought a cover this year that makes the pool water warmer. It's nice.

My new hammock! Love it.

Like the saying goes "When it rains... it pours"

I feel like since we got back from vacation last Saturday we have been flooded with unexpected problems. Really, it has only been 2 problems but still it's been a long and stressful week.



Rillz and I got back into town on Saturday and went to pick up our dogs from Kristis. Kristi and Jeff were kind enough to doggie sit while we were gone. We knew Kristi and Jeff were going out of town Thursday afternoon until Sunday. We were totally fine with our dogs being there with Diesel and no humans. They all get along really well. And Ren was going Friday to check on them anyways and give them food/water. Rillz got a text Friday saying Malu had lost 5 lbs. and looked really depressed. Not a huge shock to us because Malu is a very sensitive dog and always gets depressed so maybe she wasn't eating. Kristi said she was eating fine and hadn't noticed her losing any weight. Anyways, we go and check on them Saturday afternoon. Rillz and I walk in their backyard and are greeted to the excitement of Diesel and Simon. No Malu. We called for her and then thought she must have escaped some how. Soon after Malu came slowely out of the bushes and looked like just skin and bones.

She barely had any emotions and something was definitely wrong. Rillz and I took her to my parents and tried to feed her. She would not eat. We sat around for a couple hours to see if she would spring up a little. Eventually she started vomiting water and Rillz and I realized she needed to go to the vet. We took her right away and was told she has Parvo. She had lost 16 lbs. in 1 1/2 days. She was taken back into the hospital area and we were sent home. Malu stayed in there for 4 days. The whole time she barely ate one meatball. The Dr.s were worried to let her come home but thought she may do better at home because she is so sensitive. Plus, our bill was really starting to get expensive already. Rillz and I picked her up on Wednesday afternoon. She was feeling much better because her personality was back. She has eatin everything I have given her which has to be VERY bland foods. I have to give her pills every 8 hours and we even had to inject water into her... that part freaked me out a bit. Still looks like we haven't fed her in weeks but oh-well. I learned my lesson the expensive way. DOGGIE VACCINES ARE VERY IMPORTANT!!! This parvo virus is found EVERYWHERE! It can be tracked in your yard from anything and stay for years. So if you don't want to spend thousands on your dog make sure they are up to date on shots and get their boosters too.

Next thing, something is flooding parts of our front yard. It has been a slow flood though. On Monday I thought we had just over watered our lawn. Rillz turned the sprinkler system off on Tuesday and our lawn still had major puddles. Oh great. At our request our water is completely shut off. We think the sprinkler valve is broken. But, really we don't know. Ren has generously offered his time to come look at it today. In the mean time I have to use the bathroom but have to hold it until I go back to work in 1 1/2 hours. We really didn't need this issue after Malu's issues this week. At least I will work out tonight because we are planning on taking showers at the gym. Great idea huh!

This picture doesn't look that bad. Some water has been pumped out from the top and the sun has dryed it up too.

Luckely, Rillz and I are in good health and have food and a roof over our heads. I hope everyone else's week has gone better than ours :)

Thank goodness it's Friday!!