In Which the Girls are Not Impressed with My Recent Purchase

Yesterday was one of my two afternoons a month at the animal shelter, and while I was there, I noticed that the shelter dogs were having a good time frolicking in the really nifty doggie pools the shelter has in their dog runs.  It has been crazy hot here for quite a while (for those of you who have been watching the Weather Channel with rapt attention - yes, Mom, I'm looking at you! - you'll know it has been in the 80s - low 90s in Park City - which is crazy hot for us), and the girls have been wilting a bit.  So, I thought the girls would enjoy their own pool for some frolicking or soaking. Because the nifty pools the shelter has are a bit out of my budget, I thought I'd try something a little more in my price range - a $5.15 kiddie wading pool.

Let's just say that so far the girls have not been super impressed with the wading pool.

"Hey, Fi.  Why is there a ball in this tub of water?"  "I dunno, Abs.  Mom gets these crazy ideas some times."  "Yuh.  Mom is a bit of a wacko.  So, do you think she'll get this ball out of the water for us?"

I wonder why Mom thinks we would be remotely interested in bobbing for tennis balls....

Lookit me, Mom!  I've got one whole leggie in this tub of water!  Woohoo!

I'm not stepping in this water.  I've seen Jaws, I've watched Shark Week, and I watch the news. It is definitely not safe to go back in the water!  I'm just going to stretch out and make my neck really long!

"Hey Abs!  I've figured it out!  This is a ginormous water bowl with tennis ball garnishes!"

Yeah, so the kiddie wading isn't a hit so far.  I think the big hurdle - literally and figuratively - is physically stepping in and out of the pool.  So, I'm going take most (or all) of the water out of the pool and see if I can encourage the girls to just get in and out of the pool, and then when they are good with that, start adding some water.  It would be nice to get Abby to figure out that she can cool off by getting in the pool.  I have to admit, after we hit tennis balls this afternoon and I took the girls outside for their own tennis ball time, I stepped into the pool, and the cool water felt very good on the feet - I guess I need to frolic around in the pool a little bit and show Abby what she's missing!  *grin*


BTW, for reference, here is one of the super nifty pools they have at the shelter (I'm not sure Fi and Abby would have been any more interested in this pool than in the little wading pool I got them).

Needless to say, I will continue to document the progress (or lackthereof) with the wading pool!
In the meantime, we'll be the ones bobbing for tennis balls!