singin' in the rain

Today was our neighbor's 40th birthday party. As a surprise, his wife emailed the neighborhood a while back asking that we all appear on their lawn and create a spectacle at 6:30 pm to celebrate, and she would serve cake and drinks after the surprise. Isn't that sweet? It turned out beautifully, lots and lots of folks showed up and I do think our neighbor was surprised. Hooray! The one damper on the whole thing (no pun intended) was the rain.

It rained this afternoon and was pretty cold by this evening. Right before 6:30, it started raining again. Everyone showed up with umbrellas and rain ponchos and we still had a great time, especially the kids.

Now, you all know me by now, right? I am probably the most paranoid person in the world when it comes to all things dealing with "sick". So, here we were, at an outdoor party, in the rain. Our neighbor moved the cars out of their garage, and we all pretty much congregated in there... all except the kids. The kids were, of course, fascinated by being outside in the rain.

The Boy went and got his tricycle and rode it all up and down the driveways, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, crocs, and a fleece. When he was done with that he joined The Babe and her best friend jumping in puddles. The Babe was dressed the same as The Boy, only she didn't have her fleece on half the time. Not that it mattered, they aren't waterproof, and by the time we went home it was just one more piece of waterlogged clothing helping to soak The Kiddos to the skin. They were actually pruny when I got them inside.

But, you know what? As much as I hate sick, and as much as I sincerely hope The Kiddos do not catch a cold from this, I almost don't care. I had forgotten. I had forgotten how much fun it could be to just be wet, to splash in a puddle to see how far you can make the water go, to run around like a maniac and not notice that you are totally wet, all the way through. It was like a little bit of magic to get to watch The Kiddos discover that part of childhood.

Even though it was far past bedtime when we came in, I did make The Kiddos take a hot bath before bed. The part of me that hates the sick couldn't send them to bed chilled through like that... but maybe a small cold would be worth all of the fun they had, and all of the fun I had, too.