mmm 2nd edition

another successful mighty mud mania this year!!! the little boys didn't quite like getting muddy as much as i thought they would. go figure. you let them get muddy and they don't want to. you dress them up nicely for church, pictures, whatever and guess what happens with the first mud puddle they find. again..why do i even try to understand the politics of little boys?
here are some videos of our day in the mud. sorry so many-but wanted you to see the fun you're missing out on...

this is the big draw of the day. the obstacle course: open only to children 7-17 with closed toed shoes, signed permission slips, ear plugs, and stamina to stand in a long, long line. actually this year the line was only 45 minutes, last year it was at least double that long. and they corral the kids like cattle, no joke--see?

still waiting


then it begins with a rope swing. they are supposed to race, but that wears off after the first few obstacles. caleb was pretty into it.

a slide into the final pit-yes there were times when he was completely submerged in mud. he loved it!

so i threw ethan in a mud puddle. figured in time he would warm up to the fact..not so...mean mom!

if you aren't ready to call cps on me yet, i have to admit that he had a fever and a stomach bug the day before. he really didn't even want to go, but i didn't think he fully understood missing such an event so we hauled him out-medicated and everything.

brother even tried to lead us into danger

but ethan would not go. after he saw garet doing it, he couldn't be showed up so he decided it was okay to toss for awhile

disclaimer: this was not an actual mud puddle-the legit ones were much better made but much more crowded and i couldn't get the kids in those. this is just a puddle made by the overflow but it worked just as well. probably just a bit dirtier!
and they both survived the little kid obstacle course.

garet did not appreciate the course and refused most of the obstacles. the part at the beginning where ethan gracefully lands his slide dismount only to get plowed over by another kid cracks me up every time!!!
and just look at these little white faces covered in brown mud!!! LOVE it!!



after you get muddy you have lots of options to rinse off. there is the firetruck, the garden hose, the slide hose lady, the options are endless. of course i had 4 boys making this decision, so guess where we ended up getting washed off. yup--firetruck!

all the hype did not pay off garet still hated it!

we finally had to bite it and hold him down. luckily the fireman was understanding.

and just look at these happy clean faces


and if you wash off you get to go down the monster slide that they soap up just to make it go faster-lucky!!!!

but garet and ethan were done by now, so they were satified with a snow cone and some kettle corn.
alls well that ends well.. who cares if it was 110?!?!? the boys loved it, there were water coolers everywhere and besides, its become a family tradition! care to join us next year?