Viva la Piscina! The summer would be unbearable without a pool to go to.

Before moving into our first home 5 years ago, the concept of an organized subdivision was something that seemed very conservative and restricting as a homeowner. Confronted with the reality that moving into a house in the South required mandatory membership into the community "Homeowners' Association" or HOA, and with that, yearly membership dues, I wondered if it made more sense to buy an unincorporated home in a neighborhood without dues and HOA restrictions. We ultimately settled on a community that is quite organized and has a wonderful pool and recreation area. At $400 per year, the dues aren't too bad, considering the amenities that are included with our home.

Since having children, the pool amenity of our community has been wonderful. We used to not frequent it as often when we were child-less, but with kids, it makes for a day of "sun and fun" and it wears the kids out quickly. Plus, it's a great meeting place for other families with kids to meet up and catch up on all things parenting and kids. There are only about 3 weeks left to this year's pool season, and so it will be something that we'll miss. Even though we gripe and grumble whenever our community HOA dues are up each year, we need to realize how good things are when pool season starts and how much use we get out of it.