I got this Barbie pool for Christmas one year when I was 5 or 6. It was from Santa Claus. I remember that we spent the night with my grandparents that Christmas Eve and it was waiting for me in front of their big fireplace. I loved celebrating the holidays in that house. I think there was a Ken doll and a Barbie in a purple swimsuit, too.
While my parents were building the house they live in now, we lived in a tiny trailer next door to some friends. I mean tiny like as small as our RV, tiny. My sister and I shared a room and my parents bed took up the entire room they lived in. Our television sat on top of a chest of drawers in the living room and we didn’t have the space for a Christmas tree that year. On the upside, we had cable television for the first time in my life and I adored the Disney Channel.
Because of our tight quarters, we could only bring a few toys with us to have until we moved into the new house. The Barbie pool was just too big — we didn’t have anywhere to store it. I do remember, though, that my dad would get it out of storage on summer weekends and my best friend and I would set it all up on the tiny front porch and play with it for days, until it went back into the box.
It’s amazing that it’s still in this condition after almost 30 years of storage, but last weekend the girls and I dug it out of our cellar and gave it a good scrub down. It’s missing a few pieces and a few things are broken, but for the most part it’s intact. Ella had played with it once before, but this was Sophie’s first time to see it and she was so enamored. We loaded it up and carried it with us to the pool for the day and they sat right here in the shade for hours.
I’m sure his daddy will be thrilled, but even Hudson joined in the fun. He gave Ken a few good chews and carried around the barbecue grill for the better part of the afternoon. At least he aimed for the more masculine accessories, right?
I love that my mom saved so many things from our childhood. My girls enjoy them just as much as I loved playing with the Barbie clothes that my grandmother sewed for my mom when she was a little girl. I was disappointed to find that almost all of my American Girl clothes and accessories had been destroyed by water damage (thankfully the doll is upstairs in the girls’ room), along with some keepsakes from high school, but I am beyond thankful that this has survived. It was one of my prized possessions and I adored seeing my kids play with it.
I had to take this photo below after they “styled” it because it was so funny to see where they decided everything should go. Don’t you always work on your tan from beneath the water slide?!
