Picking and Puddle Stomping!

Oh, the wonderful sound of summer rain.  But what to do with a two-year-old when the rain is pouring down buckets and buckets of cool, clear, life giving water?  Time to crank up the old imagination!  Time to  remember what it was like to be a two-year-old boy.  Since that was about impossible, I decided to close my eyes and imagine being two again and getting to do all the things that would have had my parents looking for a big switch! (That's "southern" for paddle.)  Now, with those thoughts floating around in my water logged brain,  I developed a plan......

Hours and hours of rain.....no end in sight!  But who cares?  I have a PLAN!

Remember the slinky?  It still works its magic on kids of all ages!  It still bounces down the couch cushions. It still hops down steps.   It still needs to be untangled about once every 20 seconds!

Here was another idea.  How long can a toddler balance on a ball while playing with cars, trucks, trains and tractors?  Ummm....not as long as I had hoped since two-year-old boys don't play time games very well.



Finally, after eating lunch, reading Thomas the Train and Digger books multiple times, assembling and reassembling puzzles, and taking a nap (not without a bit of resistance), the rain stopped.  Just in time too since I had just about used up all my "inside" resources.  Now it was time to continue with the "plan" -- put on "puddle stomping" shoes and hit the gravel road!

Hurry, hurry, there's a puddle waiting.

What could be more fun than walking through the puddles?  Unless it is.......

.....doing some serious "puddle stomping"  and slinging mud all over your clothes, or........

.....trying to find the perfect rock!  Or a whole pocketful of rocks!!  Wet, gooey, slimy rocks!  So many rocks that these little shorts were dragging the ground.   

Time to visit JR's office and grab a Popsicle.  Nothing beats an ice cream on a rain drenched, humid afternoon.  It's even better when the ice cream melts all over your clothes, hands, knees, and toes.  STICKY is good for the soul!

Then it's time to visit the sand pile.  It was a "dab" wet but the little cowboy didn't care.  The more sand that can stick to his little toes and take up residence in his hair the better he likes it!  

Blackberries.  Did someone mention blackberries?  Grab a basket and join the little cowboy and me as we hop on the four-wheeler and make our way to the wild blackberry patch.

My intention was to kill two birds with one stone.  First, entertain the little cowboy and second, fill a basket with blackberries and surprise a friend so she could cook up a batch of blackberry jam.   Guess what?

Try as I might, the more blackberries I bounced into the basket the faster this little cowboy pulled them out and popped them into his mouth!  Purple, purple, everywhere!  My shorts are forever printed with purple fingerprints.  I guess my friend is going to have to wait 'till another day.  Or better yet, visit the Smuckers' Farm!
A TISKIT, A TASKIT, I BROUGHT HOME AN EMPTY BASKET!!

It's back to JR's office to play "Pappy".  Oh no....TWO PAPPY'S!  Hmmmm...maybe this little Pappy will write me a nice, big check!  (Wishful thinking on my part.)

Under the desk, the little cowboy found some packing bubbles.  POP! POP!  POP!

After a hard day of "picking and stomping" it was time for a BATH!  How do you convince a two-year-old it's time to go inside and clean up?  Well......you don't.  Here on the farm we just visit the 

HILLBILLY SPA!

Best of all, it's free and totally kid friendly.

On days when the little cowboy is only a "wee bit" dirty, he takes a dunk in the 'classic' version of the spa.

Sometimes, he will be still for two whole minutes enjoying the warm, sudsy water.

But on days when he has puddle stomped, played in the sand, smeared ice cream and blackberries from head to toe, only the 

      DELUXE VERSION 

will do!  It comes complete with a toy and fishing pole! And it's guaranteed to give five or ten minutes of peace and quiet!  Ahhhhhh!

Hope your summer days are filled with  farm spas,  RAINBOWS, and little cowboys!

Dee Dee