When we first moved to my house a few years ago, we needed a lot of help. We were friends with a really big family (aka, the Hearts... See second entry).
They decided to help us move in, and clean up the house a little before we brought in our things.
As it turns out, when a family that mostly consists of guys, hangs out with a family that mostly consists of girls... chaos can happen.
Of course being raised well, we were really good and cleaned The house dutifully for the first two hours.
I was with my friend Jacob cleaning the upstairs windows when we heard giggling and labored breathing outside.
We glanced down just in time to see my sister running for her life through the yard- Jacob's little brother on her heals. Instantaneously we dashed down into the yard, toting a bucket of dirty, soapy water with us.
My mother's only objection was,
"Don't get any water inside!" Followed by a very exaggerated eye roll...
I figured we had about fifteen minutes before our parents called the game off, so we ran.
We turned the corner just in time to see his brother, who had trapped my sister in a corner and was mercilessly spraying her with the hose.
I dumped the whole bucket on him.
Part of the reason I did this was that I simply love to have and make fun. The other reason was because I am the only person allowed to pick on my sisters. Period.
He never stood a chance.
The game continued for another ten minutes. At one point we made it to the front yard. It had turned into a kind of tug-of-war, guys vs girls over the ammunition.
We were just gaining the upper hand when suddenly the front door across the street flew open.
We all froze.
Looking back on it, I don't understand how she kept a straight face. Can you imagine walking out onto a scene like that?
Four kids dripping wet, frozen in place like they had just been caught stealing an extra helping of dessert.
She was actually really nice, welcoming us to the neighborhood and asking if we needed help. The whole time we spoke not one of us let go of the ammunition.
Homeschoolers can be stubborn, man.
In the end no one really won, because our mothers came outside and saw our muddied complexions, and the state of the flooded yard.
But it was worth it.
The only fun I've ever had that comes close to that was when I went to a water park yesterday! I didn't realize how many times climbing stairs was really required at a water park. I'm exhausted, but it was more than worth it. My fellow admins and I got to play pranks on each other, hide during rain storms, and torture the lifeguards.
It was amazing.
Needless to say, I'm having a great summer, and I hope you are too!
And by the way,
If you ever pretend to drown in front of a lifeguard... Make sure you're not in the shallow end before you try it.