Despite chilly weather and threatening clouds, Otter Beach, the outdoor facility at the Osborn Aquatic Center, was packed to the brim with kids and adults breaking out their brightest bathing suits Monday afternoon during the annual opening day of the facility.

Dollar Day, which coincides with Memorial Day, brought out loads of families, who eagerly took the plunge and spent their afternoon screaming down the water slide or bobbing along congenially in the shallow end of the pool.

A regular water baby, Gabriella Schuldenfrei, 23 months, was so eager to swim that she kept firmly saying "Mommy, no!" when her mother, Dawn, tried to help her. Instead she paddled straight for a nearby water noodle and floated across the pool, her little legs kicking hard as Mom hovered nearby.

Gabriella's big sister, Rebecca, 4, and dad Scott spent their time in other parts of the pool, getting equally doused with water, as Gabriella continually dunked under the waves and then bobbed up again, her face wreathed in smiles.

"She adores it," mom Dawn said as Gabriella struggled to get out of her grip to swim on her own. "She always wants to go and swim."

The Schuldenfrei family was down from Portland so that Scott could participate in a Memorial Day triathalon in Corvallis. His calves still bore black marker numbers as he waded around the pool in his bathing trunks. As soon as the family drove past Osborn, the kids were obsessed with trying out Otter Beach.

"The kids spotted all the toys out here," she said, and there was no going back.

Andrea Pawloski sat on the bleachers next to the lap pool, holding 9-month-old Katherine on her lap. The rest of the family was enjoying the chilly water fun.

"I've got three of them in the pool," in addition to her husband, who was helping the family 3-year-old safely swim.

"I can't do this alone," she said with a laugh. Although Katherine wasn't old enough to participate in the fun, the pool is a frequent destination when it gets hot, along with the library, the park, "and Dairy Queen," Pawloski smiled. "The kids really love Dairy Queen."

Otter Beach officially opens on Saturday with weekend swims from 1 to 4 p.m. Weekday swims have been added from 3 to 7 p.m. through June 12, the last day for many schools in the area.

Starting June 13, there will be weekday swims from 1 to 7 p.m. and weekend swims from 1 to

5 p.m.