It all started with a rain puddle!

This morning we headed out for our walk with Speedy and Caleb has been wanting to bring Nemo along lately to push around. We had a beautiful thunderstorm last night and Caleb spotted a lovely rain puddle in the middle of the road at our complex. This is not a busy road, but it wraps around a huge pond that we often walk along. He decided to abandon Speedy, Nemo and I to splash around in this dirty rain puddle! Back and forth, splash, splash, splash! He was having so much fun! The whole time I am thinking, "Is anyone watching this? Do they think I am a horrible mother for allowing my son to play in the dirty puddle in the middle of the street?" Speedy and I sat on the curb about 20 minutes while he splashed and splashed. Finally, he fell face first and lost a shoe so I decided to end the puddle fun and head home. This was a bit of a challenge that I didn't give a lot of thought to beforehand. In one arm I held my sopping wet toddler. In the other arm I held the Nemo car and Speedy on his leash. I had a few blocks to walk with all in tow and thankfully no one was outside to see this lovely sight! I was praying "Dear Lord, please get me home quickly, all in one piece!"

Since we were already soaked, I decided to take Caleb back to the splash pad that he previously feared. If he had that much fun in the puddle, he would have tons more at a splash pad........and he did! He held onto mama at first, hiding from all of the fountains, but finally took off on his own and had a blast! Kerry actually stopped by for a bit since church is right around the corner. He was so thrilled to see his happy boy playing in the water!

All fun must eventually come to an end and my happy water boy was not so happy to be leaving. The scared boy who was once climbing back into the car the first time I brought him was trying to escape and run back to the splash pad. It was a fight to get him back in the car and I had to dig deep inside for patience with my son. These episodes break my heart because my sweet boy turns into a rotten tomato for a few minutes and I can get so frustrated. I held him in my arms and he was finally peaceful, ready to cooperate and get in the car seat. He proceeded to cry for about 5 minutes, then the Caleb I knew returned.

I love to see him so happy, yet I don't look forward to next time we have to say goodbye to the splash pad.