Tracey Cambridge joins Finn, the family dog, for some quiet time beside the backyard pool. CREDIT: DEREK RUTTAN/The London Free Press

Their sister Olivia, 11, and cousin Anne Fox, 8, visiting from New Jersey, help fill the air with waves of water and shrieks of joy.

"It's like this often now," said Cambridge, smiling as she served lemonade and snacks.

But long before the pitchers of cool drinks and platters of summer treats, the family had been left to figure what to do with their new pit of dirt.

For starters, the couple had a vague idea of what they wanted for landscaping, but called in a local company to help with the plans.

"We had some thoughts about what we thought would look good, but we needed to know what to plant and where, and we're not experts and had no idea where to begin, so we knew we needed some help from the professionals," said Cambridge.

Once the couple had plans in hand, Gangbar began the laborious task of digging and planting. The hard work proved rewarding, leaving thriving, colourful and verdant plantings such as Korean lilac, variegated hostas, ivy and hydrangeas, plus some other low-maintenance foliage and groundcovers. All the plants are ideal for a partial-sun area.

Aside from flourishing vegetation that dots the back and right side of the pool, cedar loungers are nestled between the naturalization for a little poolside relaxation.

"It's nice back here," said Cambridge, who can often be found sitting by the pool after a long day working at her clothing store downtown, cold drink in hand.

With their own children always around, and others in tow, the couple opted for something other than the usual diving board.

"Most pool accidents revolve around the diving board, so we thought why don't we forgo it and go with something like this," said Cambridge.

So, rather than a typical diving board, Gangbar spent hours seeking out the perfectly shaped rocks to dive from -- each of the diving rocks weighs about 750 kilograms. Aside from being somewhat safer, the diving rocks change the entire tone of the environment, giving it a more natural, woodsy feel.