Yard Water Park Version 2012

A few weeks ago, I opened up Butler Water Park version 2012!  This time, with a hose!  Abbey just LOVING that water spray!  Adam would act like he didn't like it then run off for me to chase him with it.  This first time happened unexpectedly and they were in their clothes....having a blast!

Just look how Abbey wants that spray right on her :)

So a couple of weeks ago, I had Todd blow up a pool I had tucked away but could never do myself.  Why not create the ultimate waterpark with TWO pools?  One with a slide and one to swim in?  Adam loved it.  He was at work right away with his imagination.  The hose was still Abbey's favorite... he's busy acting out Ice Age here.

Then he starts playing with the cups and buckets I put out.  And getting a kick out of it.

I'm going to toss this water as far as I can.

Wait...I have a better idea...

SURPRISE!!   Love this picture.  And Abbey loves getting splashed!

Abbey kept getting out to play in the puddles on the driveway.  As usual, I have to work hard to keep her where she needs to be.   I have found if I only wet down part of the hot driveway, I can keep her closer.  They have so much fun in our little yard.  They get so excited...they are both water kids, in their own way.  Abbey, of course, is fearless about it.

 When I was a kid living in apartments, we loved the hose.  Dad would get it out and spray us.  I was like Adam, running off because I didn't want to get wet but then I would turn into Abbey and run into hog wild.  Sometimes, we'd open up a black garbage bag and Dad or Carolyn would wet it down and BAM our own Slip 'n Slide!  And when we lived at a townhouse once, we had a three foot pool.  It had stiff plastic slides and was the highlight of our life.  That summer at Oneida Village was awesome, spending hours in that thing.

When we moved to Calkins Rd. where there was a pool (in our very first HOUSE), Carolyn and I spent every minute we could in it for years, jumping in our clothes or the middle of the night.  Dad would dare us to see who went in first each year, a dare I often took him up on as early as April.  Us four kids spent our summer in suits, even showering sometimes under the hose.

After we left, Dad often lamented how Bobby and Sarah rarely used it.  Maybe because they had it most of their lives?  Or maybe just a personality thing.  Or the fact that my parents got air conditioning.  I always thought they were crazy when I'd stop by and the pool yard was empty and they were inside.

Anyhow, these things are the basis of my most of my good childhood memories....whether the hose on a garbage bag in front of our subsidized housing or the actual pool as a teenager.  My kids seem to be following in my footsteps!