Some dreams are not meant to come true

I woke up this morning with tears in my eyes and I was thankful that I didn't have to give Kate away. In my dream, I was caring for a baby that I had to give up when the baby girl was a year old and when I was kissing the baby girl goodbye and telling the mother what a sweet girl she was, I recognized the baby girl as Kate, but she wasn't mine. I was so sad when I woke up. I'm glad it was just a dream!

Noah has discovered the fun of taking a drink of milk from a cup and then letting it dribble down his chin and onto his shirt. Fun!

Yesterday, my mom and I took Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, and Zach to the Alamo theater to see "Ice Age 3". There was a long line when we arrived and as we got near the ticket counter, there was concern about how many more tickets could be sold. There were a lot of people waiting behind us. When we got to the counter, we were told that there were 4 tickets left...there were 6 of us. I suggested to my mom that she stay for the movie with the 3 older girls and I would find something to do with Zach. My mom bought their tickets and then the guy at the counter said he would look one more time to see if any seats were left. No seats left. I was trying to convince Zach that it would be fun to go buy an ice cream and go for a walk, but he wasn't going anywhere and he sat down on the floor. Most of the people behind us in line had left the theater, so the guy said that he would get Zach and I in to see the movie with our family. There were 2 seats available, but they weren't together. I told him that Zach could sit on my lap and I tried to give him our money, but he waved us into the theater and said not to worry about it. Okay. :-) We enjoyed the movie, although Zach got bored toward the end and wanted to go for that walk that he had rebelled against earlier. We stuck it out in the theater, though and left when the movie was over.

Friday morning, Zach, Eleanor, and Emily had swim lessons. Eleanor has a crush on one of the lifeguards, Jordan who has been helping out with her class. I know this because she told me. Emily took her swim test and didn't pass her class, but she was told by her instructor, Cassie that she could pass in the middle of next session and then Emily would move up to the next level with her same instructor. Here are a few pictures of Emily diving. Her last few dives looked a lot better than her first.



Friday afternoon, Zoe and Emily hiked Blue Hill for Activity Days with Dodie, Kristen, Kayla, Natasha, Natasha's Mom, and Morgan. They enjoyed the views, they ate their lunch at the top of the hill, and they picked blueberries. Eleanor says that if Blue Hill is named Blue Hill because of the blueberries that are on it then it should really be called Blueberry Hill.
I took the younger kids to the park in the town of Blue Hill. We ate lunch, played on the playground, and walked along the beach. The kids loved chasing the eagle (seagull).









Friday evening, we all went to the pool for the evening swim. Noah is now getting closer to the water and he likes to throw the legos into the water. No more legos at the pool. After swimming, we came over to my parents' house to watch "Wipeout".

Emily, Eleanor, and Zach had swimming lessons Thursday morning and then we headed over to the middle school where my Dad works to check out the lost and found items before they get taken to goodwill. I got 2 jackets, Zoe got a jacket, a pair of capri pants, a few sweaters, and a nice duffel bag, Emily got a vest, Zach got a pair of boots to grow into, and we got a few lunch boxes and a small cooler. Eleanor insists that she is going to use her lunchbox next year for school. Sweet! We came over to my parents' house for most of the afternoon. Aly and Phil are with their other grandparents this weekend, so Thursday was the last day for Zoe and Emily to see Aly and Phil until the 29th or 30th. I took Zoe to Sunshine's house in the evening to finish her skirt. It looks really nice, especially with her matching shirt.

We left Sunshine's earlier than expected, so Zoe and I headed to Bucksport to walk along the waterfront. It was a nice walk, very peaceful and beautiful. When we got home around 9pm, Emily was waiting up for us. Matt expected us earlier since he called Sunshine and she said we had left, so he kept Emily up. Emily was barely awake when we got home and she gladly went to bed.

We are now heading home to have family council and get Zoe and Emily packed up for their trip tomorrow. They leave at 6am tomorrow morning. We did laundry yesterday and Zoe and Emily picked out the clothes they want to pack, but we are taking home a suitcase from my parents' house now to pack everything in. Matt is grilling some chicken right now before we head home. We were going to eat it last night, but the wood and ground were too wet to make a fire to cook it. We ate yummy spaghetti instead.

Update and Random Pictures

We tried going swimming today at the pool, but it was TOO COLD! Today is supposed to be the nicest day of the week, reaching the mid-70's, but it has only reached the upper 60's. All of my kids were shivering during the pool break after a few sessions in the water, so I suggested we leave and come over to my parents' house. Eleanor had asked if we could come over to my parents' house a little earlier and I said "We'll see". She replied, "We'll see always means yes." Me: "It does?" Eleanor: "Well, most of the time." It meant yes today. The last two days have been nice out, but we have had appointments in the afternoon, so we haven't made it to the pool. We were counting on today being a fun pool day. Oh well.

Noah had his one year check-up on Monday. He is healthy and growing. He is 30 1/4" long and he weighs 21.35lbs. He was cooperative for the nurse and doctor and he even did well when he got 4 shots. He only cried a tiny bit. I would have cried a lot more than he did!

Emily finished her skirt on Monday! It has been several months since Emily and Zoe started the skirts for Activity Days, so Sunshine made it over to our house on Monday and worked with Zoe and Emily. We're hoping to get Zoe's skirt done tomorrow night. Here is Emily with her finished skirt. Very nice!


Zoe and Eleanor had dentist appointments yesterday afternoon. Matt came home to watch the kids, so I was able to read a bit while I waited for Zoe and Eleanor. :-) Eleanor finally has her first loose tooth! No cavities were found (Zoe thought for sure that Eleanor would have a cavity with the way she brushes), so Eleanor was very relieved about that. Eleanor was also very happy that she didn't have to brush her teeth last night after the flouride treatment she received. What fun to get ready for bed and not have to brush your teeth!

Emily won't be around next week for the last week of swim lessons, so she made up one lesson yesterday and the other lesson on Monday. She'll have her regular lesson tomorrow and then she'll test on Friday. Zoe and Emily are off to Utah on Monday!

On Saturday, Matt took Zoe over to Hailey's house to help out with their yardsale. Emily went with Matt, so they went for a ride on Don's boat after dropping off Zoe and before coming home. In the afternoon, Matt took all of the kids to the pool and I stayed home to read and take a nap. It was so nice! I realized that Matt and Noah matched before they left, so I had to get a picture.


Matt made a grill Saturday evening and cooked some yummy Terriyaki chicken.



Noah has learned to say "Hi". He also says "Mama". I love to hear that one. :-)

Now for some random photos:
Playing Hangman...

Noah being his cute self...

Noah likes to get in the lego box, even if it's filled with legos...


Noah was asleep on my chair yesterday when I got home from the dentist. How cute is this?...


Cousins...

The kids love to help cook...

Zach had a minor accident at the pool last week. He started to run across the blanket that I was picking up and he tripped. His nose and forehead got scraped up and are still healing.

Eleanor's dinosaur artwork...

Zoe's mammoth...

Aly, Phil, and Noah...

Zoe, Emily, Aly, and Eleanor...

Zoe, Aly, and Emily...

My parents...

Me and Matt...

Zoe and My Mom...

Warning: Very Long Post!

My one goal today was to blog, but it didn't happen during the day, so here I am this evening at my parents' computer with no children to interrupt me. Sweet. :-) I'll start by saying that awhile ago, my parents bought tickets for themselves, me, Matt, my sister Donna, and her husband Doug to go to a Portland SeaDogs game on July 9th. It was to be an adults only event and Norm's Barbeque was in the plans as well. Then Donna and Doug cancelled their trip to Maine, so we decided that Zoe and Emily would go to Portland with us. Then plans were made for Aly and Phil to come to Maine, so my Dad bought 2 more tickets for them and they were included in our trip. I was going to have Noah weaned and sleeping through the night (which he is, but not without crying first), so he could be left behind, but he's not weaned and I decided I couldn't leave him behind, so he was included in the trip. Well, yesterday was the big day of the game, so Aimee agreed to keep Eleanor, Zach, and Kate at her house last night, so after swimming lessons and after my mom and I went shopping for picnic food (Norm's was not going to happen with little money, and children with us), my mom and I drove to Bar Harbor to drop the kids off at Courtney's house and then Aimee was going to pick them up there. We had planned to drop them off at 2pm, but it was 2:30 by the time we got the kids settled in and we left. We wanted to leave Bucksport by 3pm at the latest, but we left at 4pm. The game started at 7pm. We parked the car at 7pm and we still needed to have our picnic before going in to the game. We had our picnic and we made it into the game during the 2nd inning. We could finally relax! Noah did better than I expected and we all enjoyed the game, even though the SeaDogs lost by one run. We had awesome seats. We tried to keep our eyes on the ball at all times because foul balls were flying all around us into the stands.

Noah really got into the excitement of the fans. He entertained the ladies sitting behind us.


Zoe, Emily, and Aly met up with Slugger (the mascot) to shake his hand. Aly was the ring leader.

Zoe and Emily stayed over at my parents' house last night. We got home at 1am and I was up this morning at 6:40 and I needed to leave at 6:45 to pick up Eleanor, Zach, and Kate from Aimee's house. Aimee needed to go to work and I needed to get Zach and Eleanor to swimming lessons. The kids had a great time with Aimee and her daughter, Marian. Eleanor left with some tadpoles. She was so excited to finally have some pets to take care of! The highlight of staying at Aimee's was getting in her bathtub that makes bubbles. If only bathtime could be so much fun at our house!

Kate, Noah, and Zoe stayed at my parents' house during swimming lessons today, so I was able to take some pictures of Zach, Eleanor, and Emily during their lessons. Zach's and Eleanor's classes start by running across the shallow end of the pool.


Their classes played Green Light Red Light today where they had to blow bubbles in the water every time they stopped.

Ring-around-the-Rosies is popular, too. The kids blow bubbles in the water instead of falling down.

Eleanor's class practiced holding their breath under water. Here is Eleanor under water while her class counts. She was under for 6 seconds.

Here is Eleanor practicing her doggie paddle as she swims across the pool.

Zach is supposed to use a noodle to practice his doggie paddle, but he prefers to make his instructors hold him instead. Here is Zach with Sam...

Jumping into the deep end is the last part of swim class. Today was the first time that Zach jumped by himself while Sam stood near to catch him.

Here is Eleanor jumping into the pool...

Emily is required to jump in at the beginning of her class. She stays in the water during her entire class, which is an advantage on cool, Maine mornings! The younger children spend the majority of their class time shivering as they sit on the side of the pool and wait for their turn. This morning was hot and sunny, though.

Here is Emily practicing her rhythmic breathing...

And here is Emily putting her rythmic breathing into action...

Emily practicing a back stroke...

I took a few pictures of Zach last week with his instructor, Emily...


Here is an example of the younger kids sitting and waiting...


Eleanor was so excited to sleep over at Aimee's house that she wanted to pack her suitcase the minute she found out about the sleepover...4 days before it happened. Yesterday morning finally came and Eleanor says to me: "Mom, it's fun sleeping over because you get what you want and you want what you get." No wonder she was so anxious to get on with this sleepover!

It was in the 80's this afternoon! Of course we went to the pool. Eleanor brought the tadpoles along for the ride (which I didn't realize until we were at the pool) and she was heartbroken to find them dead when we were done swimming. It was sad to see her so upset. She was determined that they were not dead. We came back to my parents' house after swimming to eat dinner and to watch "Wipeout". Matt was here, too.

Noah turned 1 on Wednesday (the 8th)! He showed us throughout the day that he is 1 (or #1). I think he feels special because he is our only 1 year old to be officially walking on his/her birthday! Yay, Noah!

Aly is always saying how cute Noah is and she is right! Noah started out the morning opening his gifts from his Great Grammie. Much needed diapers! This was truly a tithing blessing because we had used our last diaper the night before and we had no money for diapers. Thanks Grammie! The kids love that the diapers have Blue's Clues on them. Here is Noah with his first gift of the day...

Notice the long sleeves and pants? It was rainy and in the 60's on Wednesday. Too cold for July!


Noah had a fun birthday party in the evening. My parents, Aly and Phil came over to celebrate. Right before they arrived, Noah's package from Grandma and Grandpa arrived. Yay! It was a Noah sized sleeping bag. I don't have a picture of it yet because I didn't have my camera with me when we got the sleeping bag out of its bag, but it is the smallest sleeping bag we have seen, which makes it so adorable! All the younger kids had to try it out. Eleanor squeezed herself into it, but she didn't look comfortable.
Noah was not anxious to open his presents, but his sisters were, so he watched them.




Noah had more fun playing with the wrapping paper.

The kids were having fun playing with Noah's new toys, as Noah looked on, but we interrupted their fun for cake. I had the cake closer to Noah, but he tried to demolish the cake, so I moved it away from him.

Noah needed help blowing out his candles, too.

Zoe was so excited to watch Noah make a big mess with his chocolate cake. Noah started out using his spoon...

But he soon abandoned the spoon and used his hands...


Several of our 1 year olds have needed a bath after their birthday cake, but Noah stayed pretty clean. Zoe was disappointed. I love the green sprinkle on his chin!


Tuesday was another day in the 60's, so I cleaned. The Booths also came over for a visit. Noah opened a present from them and we all enjoyed the cookies Judy made for us. She is such a great Visiting Teacher...and not just because she makes delicious treats for us. :-)

Monday was in the 70's, so we made it to the pool. Janet, the kids and adults at the pool LOVE the bathing suit you bought for Kate for her birthday. I need to take a picture of her because she does look adorable in it!

We had FHE in the evening.

On Sunday, we all made it to church in Ellsworth. We went over to my parents' house for dinner.

4th of July: Hot and sunny?

No. I could have used this weather last year when I was heavy with child. We felt a few sprinkles while watching the parade, but it was nothing major. Zach was prepared, though.

Zach had a bit of a tantrum when we wouldn't fold up the poncho exactly the way it was before we opened it, so he could open it himself. We were well into the parade before he settled down to enjoy it. Kate enjoyed it after she got used to the horns and loud noises. The candy she received made her happy.

Noah went with the flow.

After the parade, Zoe wanted to have a picnic and then get ice cream and walk along the waterfront in Bucksport. We didn't have money for the Dairy Port, so we decided we would get ice cream at the grocery store and then use the cones we had at home and walk along the waterfront. Zoe was fine with that. We went to the grocery store to pick up some food, we met my mom, Aly, and Phil at our house to put together the sandwiches, and then we headed to the waterfront for our picnic.

Notice Zach is crying? He was having a tantrum because I didn't buckle him in his seat when we left for the picnic, someone else buckled him in. He cried from our house to the waterfront and he was still crying when we settled in to eat. I brought him back to the car, buckled him in, unbuckled him, walked back to the picnic table, and took a picture of him...


A cruise ship came in as we were eating...

Our view...

It didn't rain on our parade, but it did rain on our picnic...


We had a few rain showers, but Zoe was still determined to eat ice cream while walking along the waterfront. The dark clouds were encouraging the rest of us to head to my parents' house for ice cream. The thunder sealed the deal and everyone except Zoe was convinced this was a great idea. When we were all loaded into the car, it started to pour. We watched an episode of "Wipeout" at my parents' before going home to eat, give baths, and get ready for the fireworks...if they still had them. Matt made pretzels for the first time and even though they didn't look like pretzels, they were delicious! I was hoping the fireworks would be cancelled, but they weren't, so I left with Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor. We picked up my mom and Aly and we headed to the park in Brewer which is across the street from where Matt works. We usually watch the fireworks from the bridge, but it costs $1 a person to get on the bridge and being low on money and having poor weather, we decided not to spend the money this year. In past years, we had seen people waiting to watch the fireworks at the park, so we tried it. I thought it was perfect. The kids were able to play on the playground while they waited (usually we're entertaining the kids as we sit on the bridge waiting), and we could see the fireworks fine from the hill we were on, which didn't cost any money. Zoe being in the mood she was in was not happy with the fireworks because we were too far away. We could have been standing next to the people shooting off the fireworks and she would have complained about them. I'm hoping that next year she will see the perfectness of that spot. I had a great 4th of July. I was with my family and we made the most of an unpredictable (weatherwise) day. My Sunday School lesson that was in the back of my mind all day was annoying, but I ignored it most of the time and finished preparing my lesson before I went to bed.
Here's one last picture of Kate's cute 4th of July outfit...

Yes Aly, WE root for the Patriots!

Swimming Pictures

The sun didn't come out this afternoon, and it barely hit 70 degrees, but we headed to the pool anyway for a couple of hours.


Here's Aly, Zoe, and Phil

Here's Eleanor with her friend, Lacey

Sun...come out come out wherever you are!

I guess my one day of structure/productivity was enough because we haven't had another one since, and that is okay. Noah woke up before me Tuesday morning, plus I was sore from exercising on Monday, so I didn't exercise on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon turned out to be beautiful and sunny, so we spent the afternoon at the pool. I love those afternoons! I don't seem to spend as much time in the bathroom with Eleanor and Zach this year, so that makes being at the pool more enjoyable! I brought a blanket and I brought a few toys for the younger kids to play with in and out of the pool, so everyone was happy. Noah doesn't venture into the pool yet. He just walks around and plays with the toys. He also has an obsession with crocs and he steals whatever crocs he can find.

I rented "Madagascar Escape 2 Africa" for the kids and they watched it when we got home.

Yesterday, we went to storytime and then we came over to my parents' house. My mom had taken the day off from work, so she was here, which was a pleasant surprise! We started a game of Phase 10 with just the two of us and then we stopped for lunch. We abandoned that game and then we started a new game with Phil. We played one hand and then abandoned that game to start a new game to include my dad when he got home from work. We actually finished that game, but it took us awhile. We stayed for dinner and then the kids went outside to play and my mom and I played a game by ourselves on the porch, which was quite relaxing.

This is how much the girls love having Aly here...


After the kids went to bed last night, I put in my exercise video and exercised. I lasted longer this time, but then I started feeling like crap, so I stopped. Not long after, I was feeling very sick and wishing I was dead. I thought for sure I had the flu that Matt has had, but I feel fine today, so now I'm thinking it was food poisoning from a few bites of moldy cheese I had yesterday (I took the bites before I realized it was moldy). Not good.

Swim lessons started this morning. Emily and Eleanor had their classes at 10:30 and Zach had his class at 11:00. I brought the blanket and our magnetic toys for the younger ones to play with and they stayed entertained throughout the classes. I didn't have to worry about Noah going in the water since he won't go near it yet. Kate was upset before we got into the pool area because she wanted to put her bathing suit on and go swimming, but once we got into the pool area and set the toys out, she played and she was fine. I wondered how Zach would do in his first swim class ever and he did a great job! Emily, his instructor, even wanted to bump him up to Beginner 1, but the 10:30 class was full (the class Eleanor is in). Emily moved him into her 10:00 pre-beginner class which has fewer children, so she'll have more time to work with him. That actually works out perfectly because we have a few friends that are already in that class. :-)

After Emily's swim class, she left with Daisy's grandma to go play with Daisy.

If it warms up this afternoon, we'll go to the pool, but it's overcast right now and it hasn't hit 70 degrees yet. The kids are comfy in front of the tv right now, except for Noah who is getting into the cupboards.

Play and Work go well together

After a week of lazy summeritis, I am ready to enforce productivity in myself and the kids. I got up a little past 6:00 this morning and EXERCISED! That hasn't happened in a long time. Aimee gave me a yoga mat and a Cardio Pilates video awhile ago, so I put the video in this morning and realized how out of shape I am! Eleanor watched me exercise and then stated the obvious that the lady on the video was better than I was. I never have to worry about Eleanor holding back the truth. I didn't get to finish the video because Noah woke up, but I figure I will do as much of the video each morning that I can and maybe someday I will be as good as the instructor...maybe.

Eleanor was very much awake this morning when I got up since she had woken up from nightmares around 2:30am and she refused to go back to sleep. She looked at books, watched movies, and did who knows what else while the rest of us slept. I thought she would fall back asleep eventually, but she didn't. Just a little while ago I asked what was up with her today because she has been in a mood. She reminded me that she has been awake for a long time. Oh yeah.

I made sure the kids got ready for the day this morning and cleaned up their room. The TV didn't come back on after they got ready for the day. They were content to play (with some nintendo play in there, too). Zoe and Emily worked on their new Faith in God goal that they set last night. Zoe is working on finishing whatever project or task she starts everyday. For example, she made a card for her cousin Lilli last week, but that is as far as the card got, so she put it in an envelope today, addressed the envelope, put a stamp on the envelope, and she mailed it. Emily is working on being more neat in her handwriting and doing a better job of putting things away where they actually go. So today, she made a thank you card to work on her writing.

Whether the kids want to admit it or not, they like having structure and somewhat of a schedule during the summer. It makes us all feel better.

Matt isn't feeling too well, though. We knew he wasn't feeling well last night when he was cold and I wasn't. He went to work today, but I think he'll be home early this afternoon.

More Randomness

Kate was sitting at my parents' kitchen table eating cereal and watching tv when one of her siblings got in her way. She grumpily told the sibling (I think it was Emily, but I'm not positive) to get out of her way and then when her view of the tv was clear again she politely said, "gracias".

When Kate left her nursery class today after church she was grumpy and said, "I DON'T LIKE THAT ROOM!" Kate's regular nursery teacher hasn't been here for a few weeks and I think Kate is feeling the affects of that.

Rain, rain, rain. We did see the sun on Thursday, which made for a perfect pool day, which we enjoyed. Aly stayed over Wednesday night and came to the pool with us on Thursday. My kids are having a great time with Aly and Philip when they see them.

We stayed home on Friday and I was able to get caught up on laundry. We enjoyed some sunshine Friday afternoon, so we had a picnic on our lawn and the kids ran through the sprinkler for awhile. Friday evening, Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor went to spend the night at my parents' house. Matt and I watched "Bride Wars" after we put the younger kids to bed. Noah is sleeping through the night :-), but he still cries himself to sleep.

Matt and Zach had some dart gun fun Friday night after the girls left.


This next picture is a great one because Noah is underneath Matt with one dart in his mouth, a dart in his hand, and he's going for another dart. So much for keeping the darts away from Noah.


We picked Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor up yesterday morning to enjoy some festivities at the Orland River Days. We watched the parade and the kids scored lots of candy, the kids got their faces painted

Here are some close-ups (Aly is in the background)

When Kate sat down to get her face painted, the lady painting faces thought for sure that Kate would be wiggly, but Kate sat the most still out of all of our children!



the kids also jumped in the bounce house. All of the activities were free. :-) Kate didn't like the bounce house, but as the lady at the bounce house said, I probably won't be able to get Kate out of it next year.

We left Orland River Days early, so I could bring Eleanor to her friend, Abby's birthday party. Eleanor had a great time swimming (she didn't last long in the pool because it wasn't very warm out), jumping in another bounce house, eating, hitting a pinata, playing with friends, and playing on the swingset. A big highlight for Eleanor was getting a tour of Abby's house!

Eleanor and her friend, Alyssa

Abby, Hailey, and Eleanor (I could not get a good picture of these 3 girls!)

Noah played with all the different balls and tried to get his hands on all the food left behind on the little tables.


Zoe was putting sunglasses on Noah the other night and taking pictures. He liked the glasses at first, but by the time Zoe took pictures, he had had enough.

Random Notes

When we arrived at my parents' house yesterday, Zach said, "Aly's here! I love Aly! I love watching her play on her nintendo!"

My kids eat the cheap brand of honey nut cheerios for breakfast. They prefer the cheap brand. When Eleanor's friend, Lucy spent the night, she said she liked the cheap brand better. My mom bought us a box of real honey nut cheerios the other day and when Eleanor took a bite of them, she said, "I don't like these cheerios." I'm glad my kids like the cheaper cheerio brand. :-)

Matt and I found Kate asleep on my chair this morning.

She insisted on wearing one of her bathing suits to bed last night and she insisted on sleeping on Zach's plastic box that holds his clothes. She woke up early this morning and I covered her up on the box, but she was on my chair when Matt left for work and she was still there when I got up.

My Dad played Phase 10 with me, Philip, Aly, and Zoe yesterday. My Mom has been trying to get him to play with us for awhile, so she was surprised to see him playing the game when she got home from work. We quit the game when it was dinner time and then we started a new game with me, my Mom, my Dad, and Philip playing. We had to quit that game when it was time for me to feed Noah and get ready to go home, but it was fun to play the game with more people.

I took the kids swimming today along with Aly and Philip. The sun wasn't out, but at least it is in the 70's today. Still a bit cool to be swimming, but my kids have been so anxious to get to the pool! Eleanor's lips were blue when she decided she was too cold to swim anymore, but Zoe, Emily, Zach, and Kate were still going strong. I held Noah most of the time because he got splashed when we first got there and he did not like that. We would have stayed until 4:15 when the pool closes for the afternoon, but it started to downpour, so the pool closed around 3:20. It only rained for about 2 minutes, so closing the pool down for good seemed unnecessary to me, but I'm not the boss of the pool, so we left. The sun is trying to come out now. Tomorrow is supposed to be the best day of the week with a chance of sunshine. I really hope we see the sun tomorrow and it's warmer pool weather.