Puddle hoppin'

The weather over the past week has been absolutely gorgeous, so Sawyer and I have been playing outside as much as possible. We've taken several walks or just played in the front yard.



On Wednesday I had some shopping to do, and I knew he would not care for it. So I promised him that we'd go to the park after we were finished shopping.

We finally made it, and he climbed up the first slide. As soon as he sat down, he grimaced and told me it was "too cold." I assumed he meant hot, as it was about 80 degrees that day. Poor kid, he's still figuring out the difference between the two.

So he went to get on the swings, which he did for a few minutes before being ready to move on.






After I helped him out of the swing, he took off down the sidewalk to cross the bridge. This park has the playground and several wide open fields with a creek running through the middle. We've never really explored the fields, so I let Sawyer lead the way.



We crossed the bridge ... where he had to stop, pick up a rock and throw it in the water (bad Mama for teaching him that!) ... and climbed up steps to the field. Before I could even get "no" or "stop" out of my mouth, Sawyer was in the middle of a giant puddle about 10 feet ahead of me.



He walked into the water out of curiosity, but I don't think he had any idea what it would be like. He squished around for a second, and then said, "Mama, shoes wet."



I laughed and said, "I see that." He was so far into the water that there was no point in making him come out. So I just let him be a boy and have fun.

And oh, the fun he had. He stomped to make the water splash.

And he ran from one side of the puddle to the other.




Every so often, he'd bend down to examine a leaf or a bug.




And at one point, he danced, twisting his way through that giant leafy pool. It reminded me of watching the characters from "Peanuts" dance. He was so full of joy that I think my heart cracked. It totally made my day.





After that, we went to slide more with a cute 4-year-old girl at the park with her Nana.





Sawyer's shoes were a wreck, and his socks were black when I took them off in the car. He was so dirty that I had to give him a quick bath before work.

But it was worth every bit of the mess. It was so fun I'm wondering where we might find more puddles.