Pond Swimming [June Happenings Part II]

Hello everyone!

Yes, it is July, but yes, I’m still going to post a June happening. This is something we thought about doing for a while and finally decided to do it a few weeks ago: swimming in our pond!

But first, before we get started, SBG HAS BEGUN! Check out Clara’s post to see what challenges we’re starting of with: CLICK HERE.

The pond on our farm is about 15 feet deep in the middle and five or so feet deep at the end of the dock (and then it’s another foot of mud), and thus it’s not quite like a pool. But it is cold water which feels quite nice on 90 degree days and so we did go swimming after all.

The pond was pretty gross, but it did have a few flowers growing along the edge!

We were a little nervous to get in at first as we’d never really swam (swum?) in a pond before.

The first one in turned out to be our mom who had learned to swim in a pond in Missouri! 🙂 After that everyone got in, but there were definitely mixed feelings about how nice it was to swim in.

As you can see, the pond was not crystal clear. The duckweed was also a very annoying feature, but it doesn’t hurt you I suppose. 😉 We put a ladder down off of the dock so we could easily climb up.

Funny story: a few days after this we went swimming again with our cousins, only we forgot to get a ladder. Let me tell you, it’s a lot harder than it looks to get up on the dock! We tried several different methods such as standing on someone’s shoulders, pushing, leaping, and other usually-painful strategies before my cousin found a rock that helped you climb up. Three of us had made it up and then Jeff went to get a ladder so the others could get out without so much trouble. Still, we were quite scraped and strained at the end of the ordeal!

It was really pretty that day and I got a few pictures of the clouds.

I put this picture on here so you could see how much duckweed there was at times:

Carmen appears to be snorkeling through duckweed or something like that.

Practicing the art of duckweed coating with feet.

We had to use a hose to wash off all the duckweed which stubbornly clung to you. I had rather green ankles after I got out of the pond. XD

So far we’ve only gone swimming in our backyard “swimming pool” twice. The first time was okay, and the second time was much better. It really helps if it’s hot outside, you have pool noodles (we swam (IS IT SWUM OR SWAM?) a whole lap in the pond with pool noodles, but it was an exceedingly slow lap), and the duckweed stays around the edges of the pond. It’s certainly nice to have a handy place to cool off when we get hot!

have you ever swam in a pond? 

IS IT SWAM OR SWUM???*

P.S. I probably should just ask Allison… But then I’d have to think up another question!