Front Yard Fun...Now

Welcome to part 2 of my post about summer time fun. 

I mentioned at the conclusion of part 1 that the water battles I fought "then"  helped me create a memorable day in the "now." That's because those memories serve as a guideline when it came time for some hot weather fun with my grandchildren. I want to share the story of that day with y'all. 

Last Friday was the final day of 1st grade for my grand daughter. My wife and I went to her school to see her participate in the closing ceremonies for the school year. 

After we saw her receive citizenship award from her principal, we brought her home to spend the day with us. Later that afternoon, her little brother joined us.  

It was a bright sunny day in south central Kentucky but it was unseasonably warm for May. The kids wanted to play outside. They love to play outside. When my wife and I insisted that it was too hot to be playing outside, my 7 year old grand-daughter suggested we get some water balloons.

Unable to come up with a reason not to, we acquiesced to her idea. Her Nana took her to the Dollar Store to get some balloons.  

We decided that the front yard was the best place to access the outside water supply and have fun. 

Even though they were sold as "water balloons" and came with their own faucet adapter; these were so small and thin half of them ripped before I even got them over the spigot. 

I could quickly tell that with these balloons, playtime wasn't going to be as much fun as we had anticipated. 

I decided we needed an balloon upgrade so I went back to our local dollar store. While I was gone, Paula kept the kids entertained by trying to fill some of the "defective" balloons. 

As I made my way through the seasonal aisle of the Dollar Store, one of the little guys in my brain went into my mental filing cabinet and accessed the file marked "front yard water fun". He read me the items on the list. 

I browsed up and down that aisle collecting the items I had recalled from my childhood. 

Soon I was back at my house with a hose, a faucet divider, 100 blue easy-fill, self-sealing water balloons, and a toy puppy dog sprinkler. All I thought we would need to have a great time. 

I put the water balloons in a large grey plastic storage bin so they wouldn't break. Once they were filled it was time for the fun to begin. 

The kids had a great time throwing the balloons at me and at each other. Their Nana sat on the sidelines watching and taking pictures. 

We played catch with the filled balloons but the kids weren't getting very wet. The balloons weren't breaking until they hit the ground. 

So I got an idea that would have the balloons bust on the kids and soak them get. I got a blanket and spread it out on the ground. I had the kids get on it. I tossed the water bombs up in the air yelling "Bombs Away". 

The only problem was that the blanket was too thick and the balloons didn't bust. The kids thought it was great but they weren't getting wet. 

That's when we changed the game a 2nd time. I sat in a lawn chair and let them break the remaining water bombs over my head and on me. They  had a blast soaking Papa. 

All too soon, all the balloons were gone. All that was left in the gray container was water. 

I had one more watery trick up my sleeve but I had to convince Aria to volunteer for it. She was reluctant but eventually agreed. I picked up the gray container and poured the water over her head. 

The only thing left for the kids to do was run around in the doggy sprinkler. At least that was the only thing I could think to do. 
But kids are creative and soon they made their own new fun. They started trying to fill up the gray container by tilting it toward the sprinkler. But that only got the water to a certain level. Paula got them a couple of red Solo cups to use.  

With a determined effort, and the big sister serving as project director...

...they filled it to the top and Aria got in. 

She basked in her improvised pool for a while but then her brother wanted his turn. 

Eventually, it became necessary to get my grandson his own container to create his own private pool. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the two of them side by side in their private improvised gray and bright green "pools" . 

Soon, it was time for our front yard fun to come to an end. We all needed to dry off because their mom was coming to take them home. 

As kids usually do, our soggy pair protested the end of the water play. But we reminded them that this was just the first day of the summer; promising them even more front yard fun when they came back again. It's going to be a fun summer. 

Thank you for reading this two part blog post. Playing with my grandchildren on our front lawn got me thinking about our neighborhood water battles during those summers back "then"on Green Street. I just had to share the details and connection of both with you.  I hope my recollections brought back memories of some fun times from your "then" too. 

Have a good weekend. In my next post I will share with you my return to Nashville and an rather unique restaurant.