Barton Springs Pool Again

It's been a couple years since we've swam at Barton Springs Pool, so we decided to check it out today to see if it would still be a cool swimming spot to take every one that comes for our family reunion in a few weeks. It only cost $3 per adult and $1 per child to swim - so it's an inexpensive, fun place to go.

Since it's Memorial weekend, it was pretty crowded and we waited about 10 minutes in line to get in. But the fresh spring pool is so huge that it didn't feel crowded in the water.

The water temp is about 71 degrees, so once you hit the water it's quite cool and refreshing in the summer heat.

Poor James was shivering and chattering with his teeth. So I lifted him out of the water a few times to warm back up.

Here are the kids and I back in May 2008 at Barton Springs. You can see the stair hand rail we were standing at here in the photo above (behind us). James was only 1.5 and Madeline was 4.5. They've grown so much! Take a look back at that May 2008 blog post here.

For the most part the kids could touch the bottom but it was slippery with algae on the rock so I still had them wear their floaties/life vest. 

Stephen didn't want to wear his water sock shoes like the kids and I so he slipped and fell totally in the water a few times. The kids thought it was funny. Madeline did some snorkeling to check out what was under the water.

James thought it was hilarious to pick up the algae and pretend he was going to put it on you. Silly boy!

I think James was chasing Madeline here with algae in hand, I love the expression on his face.