Sunday Sprinkler Afternoon

Abbie and Carter love to play outside. Now that summer weather has officially set in, playing outside in the middle of the afternoon definitely needs to involve water! Carter just loves the sprinklers. Actually, Carter loves any type of water to play in; bathtubs, swimming pools, fountain, water faucet…if it involves water he will be splashing and soaking in a matter of seconds! (Of course my ear infection prone child with tubes in his ears would just love the water!)

One day we let them have a fully-clothed, impromptu play session the the sprinkler I was using to water my flowers, which ended up scraping up poor Carter’s feet and legs as he was crazily running through. Earlier today I happened to be at Walmart and found a great ball that attaches to the hose and sprays the kids with water, preventing them from hurting themselves in the traditional sprinkler. As soon as Abbie and Carter saw it, they couldn’t wait to try it out!

They both put on their new swimsuits for the summer, anxiously squirmed as we applied their sunscreen, and then raced outside to try it out! Abbie was a little hesitant at first, no surprise there. Carter just dove right in and started playing…literally he dove on top of the ball and bounced right off! They quickly started running around and playing in the water. To add to the excitement, Jace, the little first-grader who lives two doors down, decided to come out and play with them. Carter just loves playing with older boys, and I think Abbie really thinks he is big stuff, being in big-kid school and all.

Just as it seemed the day couldn’t get any more fun, the ice cream truck drove down our street. I have successfully avoided the lure of the truck for years, but this time I just had to face it since it was right across the street. Jace, who gets ice cream every Sunday from the truck, was already getting ice cream, so of course I had to let Abbie and Carter get some as well. Abbie and Carter made their very first trip to the ice cream truck and both got popsicles. All three kids sat down in the shade and happily ate their popsicles.

I have to imagine that an afternoon like today has to be one of the best way two little kids could spend the day. Abbie and Carter sure seemed to have a lot of fun, which made Steve and I very happy!