New Years Eve party ~ in the pool!

Today’s blog post is by a guest blogger Carol Atkins who is sharing her plans for an outdoor new year’s party! It all sounds so fantastic that I’m beginning to wish that I lived in a warmer climate and would be able to recreate this party at home! Here’s Carol’s article on what she and her family will be getting up to for New Year’s Eve:

We enjoy having people over, so this autumn we accessorized our family swimming pool to make it more inviting for guests. Gene built an amazing, multilevel redwood deck around our pool, we put all new furniture on it, then accessorized with potted plants and new overhead lighting. We live in a warm climate, and my husband Gene and I agreed we didn’t want to wait until next spring to show off what we’ve done. He suggested a New Year’s Eve party, and we loved the idea, so we began to plan it.

Provide warmth. Even though we live in a warm part of the country, and the forecast is for lovely weather, it might get chilly for some people, so we want to allow for that. Gene found a place that will rent the most wonderful patio heaters – he arranged for 4 of them. They look like tall lamps, and the heater is on the top, so it is not like some heater blowing on the sidelines at a football game. He checked them out, and they will heat an area for about four to six feet around the base, so a whole group can stand near it and be warm. If we don’t need them, we just turn them down or off.

Seasonal refreshments. We plan to have the doors to the house open, and inside (where they will stay hot), we will provide eggnog and other hot drinks. We will offer plenty of drink choices at the open bar. There will be coolers on the deck, with plenty of cold beverages.  We’ll also provide a lot of food, because when we throw barbeques, our friends really know how to eat. Speaking of barbeque, Gene will have the grill going – another source of warmth – and I know what will happen. He and his buddies will gather around the grill drinking beer and talking – they really seem to enjoy watching burgers cook. The ladies will congregate at the new patio table and chairs, drinking and eating and chatting away.

People will swim. Before the party, Gene will begin to raise the temperature in the pool. He has calculated how much to raise the temperature to make the pool feel like a sauna. We’ve told everyone to bring their bathing suits, and our adventurous friends have said they will be swimming for sure. They loved the idea – what a great way to welcome in the new year – standing in a toasty pool with a warm mug of cider! I suspect the pool will be full for most of the evening.

Additional lighting. Gene is having a holiday all his own with lighting the back yard. We have lights at the pool and on the deck, and they provide a nice warm light. But we want to make the back yard bright and festive, so Gene went to Poolcenter.com for ideas, and then found a place where he can rent the coolest lights. They are globe lights with hooks, and connected on a strong wire, so that you can put 10 of them from one place to another all over the back yard and the deck. I saw what he was thinking and I fell in love with the idea! We’ll have plenty of lighting so people won’t be trying to recognize each other in dim light. The pool area will have a tremendously festive atmosphere.

Our friends are all excited about our New Year’s Eve pool party, and Gene is now the talk of the community for having the idea. We can’t wait to have our friends over, and show off how wonderful our whole pool area looks!

Carol Atkins enjoys writing freelance articles for pool toy and games supplier PoolCenter.com.  She has 3 children with her wonderful husband – two boys and a girl – and two lovely black Labradors.  When she’s not overseeing pool maintenance and adjusting chemicals, she spends hours at her family swimming pool, watching the kids and dogs play and have fun.  She is also a dedicated runner, and diligently training for her first half marathon.

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