The pool is closed.

You can tell fall is right around the corner, because we took the pool down yesterday.  The project consumes several days of draining, disassembling, scrubbing, hosing, drying, and packing, and it all has to be timed with the weather conditions.  Ideally, draining day would be when the ground is very dry so it can handle the deluge.  Scrubbing and hosing day should be pretty warm, because I always manage to get soaked.  Most importantly, I need at least two days of no rain for drying and packing.  Sun and a nice breeze help too. 

Two days ago, we drained.  The ground was nice and dry.  Yesterday was day one of scrubbing and hosing.  The kids scrubbed the nasty green slime off the patio while I worked on side one of the pool.  It was plenty humid and warm, so we didn't mind getting soaked. 

Today was day two of scrubbing, and we all worked on side two of the pool.  There was some sun and a stiff breeze, but it was pretty chilly to be drenched and covered in filth.  This is the view of our back yard now:

Every fall I ask myself (as I'm on my hands and knees, tarred and feathered in algae and debris) if it's really worth it.  Did we really get enough enjoyment out of it in the summer to justify all this?  The answer is always yes.  The four of us and all the neighborhood kids spent hours and hours of fun in there.