All we were missing was the Ark

"I'm bored". "I'm hungry". We all know these sounds of summer vacation.

I myself was feeling quite tired, bored and yes, even a little hungry. Tiger decided to stay up until 1:00 am and I thought that bouncing on the couch and eating a whole bag of ruffles while watching every episode we owned of Thomas the Tank Engine sounded like fun too; so I decided to join him.

The alarm sounded on schedule and I managed to hit the snooze button three times before the wild animals came pouncing upon my soft, warm, comfortable and completely blissful bed. It was time for hash-browns and this smart zookeeper knows you never put off serving breakfast unless you want a stampede.

I thought I'd get a lot done for the two hours the boys were in school but it just didn't happen that way. It may have had something to do with walking in circles and doing odds and end chores that really got me no where. I did get mine and Mr. Zookeeper's laundry done and the kids end up naked by the end of the day anyway so I could consider it as giving them a head start with having no clothes to wear to begin with. Yes. That makes me feel better.

As a low-energy day would deliver, it took longer than usual to get to and from the school although I do appreciate the opportunity to study in detail the road that I traveled at a tortoises pace and all of the kind employees that waived as they stood around holding their "slow" signs. Never saw a tractor, operator or dust for that matter; just lots of orange signs. Hmm.

Getting home brought about lunch and then the lament began. I hadn't even finished the dishes before I was told how miserable life was and that my children were starving! and bored! and extremely convincing as they grabbed their stomachs and rolled on the floor no matter how times I walked over the top of them. Being tired myself and having very little energy to hear their reasons as to why I am such a mean mom- I told Rhino to go watch a movie and Puppy to take Tiger outside and jump. Of course the latter could not do it without me accompanying and I thought- well- I'm not getting anything done in here, might as well go play.

Feet burning from the black mat and sun beating down on us was not my idea of fun. I knew I couldn't cop out but couldn't stand it either. Being the genius that I am I decided to wet down the trampoline and bring it to a tolerable temperature. Mission accomplished... for one that is. Puppy and Monkey did not like the water being turned off and wanted more. Being hot myself I decided to set up the sprinkler so they could run through it. It was so hot that the water seemed to heat up as it came squirting out. While the grass is fine for Puppy, Monkey doesn't like running on it in bare feet so she got some shoes. My shoes. Tiger was happy bouncing but then dropped down and got a little damp from the previous soak down. He refuses to wear wet clothes so he promptly removed them and resumed his bouncing. Rhino was off alone not watching a movie but quoting one and I knew that if I didn't act fast I would be overrun. I tried the slip-and-slide and couldn't get it to work and then I remembered hubby's tarp that he had in the garage. I retrieved it quickly and strategically centered the sprinkler to allow for a nice, padded play area. What started as a survival idea turned into a brilliant one. Puppy pointed out that puddles started forming and that's when the light bulb heated up.

"Hmm", I thought, "we need soap!"

I ran inside and grabbed my refill bulk sized bottle of dish soap and poured it all over the tarp. Within seconds bubbles started foaming and flowing all over. Puppy was elated, Monkey was surprised and Tiger became intrigued. I called for Rhino to come and see what we had done and his response was "are you washing the dishes outside?" After I assured him there were no chores involved, he speedily slipped into his swimsuit and came charging. After only a few minutes he layed down in the biggest puddle, put his arms behind his head and with the biggest smile he sighed "this is the life".

Tiger was still unsure but couldn't take his eyes off of the fun. Rhino requested the sprinkler to go under the trampoline so we prepared to move and reset up shop. Doing this as a child was fun, especially when mom wasn't home to tell us that we were going to ruin the mat if we let the water run too long, but as an adult it's a whole new experience. To save the poor neighbors and children at the nearby park I refrained from putting on my own swimsuit and sacrificed the wetness of my clothes. Of course everyone wanted to get mom and with the heat on my back I didn't mind being the "wet" center of their attention. Rhino flopped around with the grace of an armored wild animal and Puppy pranced about trying to enjoy the splashes without drowning. Tiger started off cautious but couldn't resist so after only a few minutes he plunged right in. (I quickly got a supply of underwear so every time he needed to remove his wet clothing I was there for him... and any unsuspecting onlookers.) Monkey held her own.. she wasn't getting left out. Completely soaked and jaw hurting from smiling so much I gave the kids a five minute warning... after all, the mat will begin to wear out if we left the water running for too long. Monkey and I went over to the swings to let the older kids have their last big jumps.

Back and forth. Back and forth."Hmm", I thought. "I wonder."

Yes! The hose DID stretch that far and it hooked up nicely. The kids could not get enough of their swinging shower until my light bulb started getting a little warm again. With a pull here and tug there, we were able to create our own water slide. What would make it even better you ask? Soap! United teamwork moved the tarp across the yard and positioned it nicely at the bottom of the slide. We re-covered the surface with soap, naturally, and raced to be first in line. Being the mature grown up that I am, I suggested it might be best if I went first and took my place promptly before I was challenged to give a reasonable explanation.

"Yahoo!" I was having as much fun as the kids and decided we all needed to top off with a freeze pop. I prepped each tube for easy enjoyment and before heading outside glanced around my house. The kitchen was clean but some toys and clothes and such still lingered about. I went hurriedly to pick them up when I heard laughter. I looked out the window and saw my wild animals engulfed in soap suds and enjoying every minute of it.

Rhino- you were right... "This is the life!"

What started off for all of us as a boring and tiring day turned out to be one of the best. I pushed the items in my hands to the side and grabbed the frozen treats. I headed outside not wanting to miss another minute.

We had the animals, lots of mom-made rain and nearly a flood by the time we were done; all we were missing was the ark!

but- there's always tomorrow...