Playing with Rocks & Dirt

Today was one of those days where I didn't have enough patience to go around.  So we spent a lot of time playing outside and getting messy.  Although in hindsight, perhaps we should have saved the getting messy bit for a day when I have infinite patience.

During Megan's morning nap, Amelia and I grabbed a bucket and collected rocks from the landscaping around our house.  She thought it was great fun to climb around and hunt for rocks, and she kept telling me that she was "connecting" them.  I told her to look for smooth pretty rocks, and I enjoyed seeing what she thought constituted pretty.  We found a lot of different kind of rocks: pink and black spotted, reddish, purple, black and white striped, agatey, and even a smiley face.

Then we got out a bucket, some dish soap and a scrub brush and "gave the rocks a bath so they could get all nice and clean," according to Amelia.  Once they were all soapy, then she got to rinse them with the hose (using the hose is a highlight of her day).  She enjoyed the washing and rinsing so much that I'm thinking I should find more things for her to wash.  Maybe the dishes?  We let the rocks dry in the sun, and then colored them with chalk.

Then Megan decided she needed to play in the dirt.  Sometime I will post a picture of Megan without a messy face, I promise.

 
Today was a good reminder to me that kids don't need all kinds of fancy toys to have a good time: give them some rocks, some dirt and some water, and they'll have a blast.  So maybe that's what I'll give Natalie and Noah for their next birthday (just kidding, Becky!)