In Which The Bug And The Pea Wallow In The Mud

The Bug and the Pea are wallowing in the mud. Literally. Granddad built a lovely garden down the left side of our backyard. The raised garden is rectangular in shape, about 20 feet long, two feet wide, one foot deep. Stones border the edges and a rich mixture of top soil, mulch and fertilizer fill the garden beyond capacity. We have yet to plant vegetables for the season. Thus, when warm weather surprised us this week, the not-yet-planted garden became quite the playground.
In all fairness, they did begin with the right equipment. Shovels, rakes, gardening gloves. The Bug and the Pea donned snow boots (hand-me-downs with the price tags still intact) in hopes of keeping their worn, torn $10 Wal-Mart sneakers “clean.” But after a bit of burrowing, the gardening gloves came off. The shovels were traded for dirty-fingernailed-digging hands. And the fun really began.
The front of the garden borders a fence gate, and beyond the gate is the water spigot. The Bug and the Pea decided the dirt wasn’t quite moist enough and remedied the situation promptly by filling various plastic containers (procured from my kitchen cabinets…) with water from the spigot. As if 40 square feet of unadulterated mud was not enough, the Bug began digging a new hole beside the gate. A kind of holding tank, as it were, for the storage of mud-pies.
And, of course, what is fun for two little ones is even more fun with six. Enter children from the neighborhood. Quite a collection of mud-balls (picture meatballs, but inedible) has accumulated in the burgeoning ditch beside the fence gate.
But, you ask, hasn’t it been raining in Kentucky? Not a problem. This is where the ever trusty umbrella comes in handy. The children are masters at creating an umbrella shelter, practically cancelling the need to come indoors during a light shower.
We are beginning the season where a trail of mud will continually adorn my floor. I keep a broom, my Swiffer, the vacuum cleaner handy. And of course I stock up on laundry detergent and stain removers. In our home, the sign of a great day: needing to hose the kiddos off before they come inside, to be promptly washed in the tub…sometimes twice.
Speaking of which, it’s time to fill the bath…almost bedtime for two delightfully giggly mud wallowers…