Rain Walk

I have no idea what day this took place - I think Monday but I can't be sure. Looking back the days blur one into the other. Whichever day it was the rain was pouring and, thanks to the fall leaves clogging the storm drains, puddles were everywhere. We were all going a bit stir crazy from being in the house for days on end (Kaylen and I two days longer than Dakota and Kelton) and Kaylen, who bounced back from being sick Saturday, was begging to go somewhere. Dakota hit upon the idea of a rainwalk for all of us. Dogs included.

We bundled up in raincoats and boots and headed out into the storm. Jordan, our 12 year old Dalmatian, was less than amused by the rain but the love of a walk soon won out and we were on our way.

Around the neighborhood we went - the kids stomping and splashing in every single puddle while Dakota, the dogs and I tried to avoid being hit with splooshes of water.



About 3/4 of the way around we came upon a section that was amazing! The storm drain clearly was clogged as the puddled stretched a good 1/3 of the way across the road and the depth was the height of the kids boots. Oh the fun!






They splashed and splooshed and laughed.

Finally, we worked on locating the storm strain and Kelton, Dakota and I took turns clearing out the enormous pile of of leaves. Once we had broken through the drain took on a tornado effect (or flushing toilet, as Kelton called it) and before long the street was cleared of the massive puddle.


Once we arrived home the kids dumped out their boots and we all laughed at the amount of water that they had acquired. Kaylen, at one point, said "Mom! I have a swimming pool in my boots!" She was not kidding. :)



It was a fun walk and it was really great to breathe some fresh air. Once at home we tossed the frozen children into a warm tub and then settled in to watch movies. It was a fun adventure but it left three of the four of us wiped out and ready for a nap.

Camping and Rain

It's raining cats and dogs right now and you will never guess from where I am writing. Oh wait - if you read the previous post you probably *can* guess. The tent. That's right, the tent.

Are we crazy? Only time will tell for sure but so far it's mostly OK. This is the maiden voyage for the tent in a rain storm and we have noticed a few drops here and there on the rain fly at the seams (the roof of the tent itself it net and then the rain fly goes over). It isn't bad...yet. I figure the rain can't keep up all night, right? I mean - it IS August and all.

The kids went to bed so easily tonight - the sounds of the rain and stories from both moms about times when, as children, we were on vacation and it rained. My stories were all tent camping or backpacking based since that is how my family vacationed and Dakota's were from her family's boat as that is how she vacationed. I love how we have given our kids both sides of vacationing: camping (sure sure - it's in the backyard at this point (Kelton doesn't remember the times when he was under 3 years of age that he went camping) but it's camping to us) and water vacations. Not so much on a boat but at least at the seaside.

Dakota mentioned how much she is enjoying listening to the sounds of the rain from the inside of the tent though she was quick to point out that if we were *really* camping in the woods she would be far from amused. There is comfort to be taken in the fact that if we get wet the warm, dry house is mere feet away. Dry pajamas and dry beds await us if necessary. It does make the adventure of rain camping much more enjoyable. I highly recommend it. :)

And speaking of recommending...I have been noticing that in the magazines I have been reading lately there have been an articles on backyard camping. I find it funny that it is the hip new thing to do when we have been doing it for years now and well....I even did it as a kid.

As children we would pitch our 2-man tents in the backyard and sleep outside many times during a summer. My parents would simply leave the backdoor unlocked and off we'd go. They never slept out there with us but then - times were different. The world a more trusting place perhaps.

The sounds of the rain make me so happy (as you might be able to tell from my ramblings) and stirs up memories of camping in the woods with my family. On rainy days we would hunker down in our tents (I shared a tent with my sister) and work in word search books, read or play cards. I'm sure I am totally romanticizing it now because something tells me it wasn't really all that fun to stay locked in a tent for most of a day with the occasional mad dashes for the outhouse. But still - looking back, it sure makes good memories and fun stories to tell my children. :)

Right now both kids are sleeping, Dakota is reading and I am....well...as if you can't tell...blogging. We made chocolate chip cookies tonight and the kids had their two before bed. We opted to save ours for after they were asleep and we were settled in watching a show on the laptop. It doesn't seem to have worked out that way since there is no way we would be able to hear over the loudness of the rain so here I am - sans chocolate chip cookies because neither one of us wants to brave the rain to make a mad dash into the kitchen to get cookies and milk only to have to make the dash again to take the dishes back in. Hmmm....so being in a tent during the rain keeps us from our usual (and so not good habit) of bedtime snacking. Too bad we can't bottle this because it just might make the best diet pills ever! :)

I wish I could share the sounds of tonight with you. I just love, love, love the sound of rain. I've been known to throw open the door on a rainy night just to listen to thepitter patter. I love the sounds of the rain as it hits the chimney top or one of the vents on the roof. I don't like *having* to be in the rain but I love listening to it and watching it and, on the occasions that the kids talk me into it, I even love rain walks.

And bonus for the rain tonight - Kaylen looked at me and said "Hey Mom! My nose isn't clogged one bit tonight!" Let's hear it for that! No bedtime meltdown!!

Bring on the rain.....just keep it on the outside of the tent, please. :)

Rain Rain Rain

Wow - that WAS a lot of rain. Rain is nothing new in this area - they don't call us the Evergreen State for nothing - but even I was blown away when I read the following in the morning paper:

"The city's official recording station at ** measured 3.52 inches of rain in the 48 hours ending at 8:53pm Monday. To compare, the area saw 4.3 inches in the month of November."

So to recap, we received only .78 less rain in a small 48 hour window this weekend than what was received in the entire month of November.

Seriously, there was so much water sitting on top of the ground that the kids could go puddle stomping right in the front yard. Amazing amount of water coming down in a very short amount of time. It's not raining at the moment and I can see patches of a strange blue color up there. But never fear, the showers are supposed to return later this morning. Showers though - not the downpour of the last couple of days.