sharknslide party

Last week some friends and their kiddos came over for an excellent afternoon of slip-n-slide, iced tea, popsicles and legos. I can't remember having that much fun with folks in a long time, and A definitely agreed. He enjoyed himself so much that when everyone left, he was heartbroken. I heard the sound of chalk on the front porch, along with disconsolate sniffing, and when I looked out, he had made drawings of L, D, and K, in the outfits they were wearing that day. He'd stop drawing for a second to sob, and then keep going.
What struck me, besides the grieving-through-drawing experience, was how different his drawings were from just a few weeks ago. I think I will start to take a more active role in teaching him, since he clearly enjoys it and I actually know what to do. He's drawing at a much higher level than most kids his age can do, and I am interested to see how he does with a little more instruction.

The slip-n-slide was terrific, too, as it's a shark's mouth with a busted boat on the end. The hose hooks up to an alternating hose, which wets the slide or fills the shark's head to spray out the mouth of the shark. The kids (especially the boys) tried different ways to time the slides so they could get under the mouth, or get sprayed just so, or whatever. The girls had fun playing with the water table, hanging out inside, and shaking their heads at the silliness of the boys. And the mommies sat on the back porch, drank buckets of iced tea, and talked about everything from my friend's recent trip to Alaska to what kind of outfit J should sew for "Naked Ken," Barbie's friend who has never had a suitable outfit since J was a child. Poor Ken. Now he has very respectable Yoga pants and a sleeveless t-shirt to cover himself.