Seedlings

"Let them play.  Let them run in gangs.  

Plant the seedlings in good compost and let nature do the rest."

~ Tom Hodgkinson

We frolicked at the sprinkler park for about 3 hours Thursday with Mara, Adam, Jude, Clark, and Libby.    Frolic.  Isn't that a fun word?  There's no better word for what those littles did.  Magical things happen when you put kids in swimsuits, feed them a little picnic food, and then set them free to get as wet and dirty as they please.  It rained about half the time, which just made the night even better!

It seems like my kids are most inventive and get along best when in nature with few or no toys.  Maybe this is why my parents talk so fondly of their childhood?  Its like I can stick them in the dirt and watch them sprout up - watch knowledge and creativity and happiness grow like vines out of their souls. Their problem-solving ability triples.

The four kids spent quite awhile trying to get rings to stick up in the tree branches.  And then equally as long trying to get them down again.