Today Maria invited the kids and I to a water party (I don't know what else to call it) at the military base. We had had a long weekend and my house was in total disarray. I had plans to stay home, clean and do laundry but Maria and the family are moving next week and I thought that any time spent with them was worth it. And Maria talked me into it. So we put on our bathing suits and off we went.

The "water party" was the fire engine spraying down the kids by the pool. It looked really fun! The kids ran off to play in the water.

Katie and Maggie.

Then the firemen turned off the water and the kids made a discovery...

MUD!

Mud to stomp in, mud to splash in, mud to get covered in!

Now let me explain Maria to you. She is a city girl and a neat freak with a touch of OCD. Her girls wear white pants and white sweaters. Something that would never survive on anyone in my family. She also has a newer van that she would NEVER in a million years allow mud into. At this point Maria was ready to go home, the tables had turned! She was questioning the wisdom in coming to this event and I was having a blast!

Mud then became a tool to paint with...

...or to fight with.

Where is Nathaniel in all of this you ask? He thought the water was too cold and didn't want to participate. He seems to have an aversion to water this year. He didn't even want to play in the mud.

The mud got worse...

...and worse.

Tim was having the time of his life!

Remember the scene in Braveheart where the Scots run across the field of battle with their faces painted and shouting war cries at the English? I think Timmy is reenacting it.

Just in case you didn't see that close enough.

All in all it was 30 minutes before the firemen turned the water back on.

Praise God they did! There was no way Maria was going to let them back in her van.

Time to wash off!

He looks a smidgen cleaner, don't you think?