May 12, 2020 Sarah Terman

Puddle Stomping Party!

Lately, my family and I have been on the quest for adventure!. Some days are met with an exuberant “YES, let’s go!” Today was a peel the kids from the couch kinda day, the limp noodle, I can’t do it, day. The energy in the house was stagnant, the calm before the storm type of energy.Sibling fights were on the horizon; and that wasn’t the type of adventure I had in mind.

So, with that, I decided we would take a break from distance learning, and head out into the rain. Nothing can shift energy like the outdoors, and a puddle jumping party was just what we all needed. The kids weren’t convinced at first, they were content snuggled up with their favorite Jellycat stuffed animals. We struck a deal they could bring along their plush pals, and the promise of making chocolate chip cookies sealed the deal.

Once we hit the rainy, puddle filled streets the sour faces were washed away… stomping in streams, giggles took over. The older kids loved wading through calf deep water, and with their butler boots their feet stayed dry. We love Butler’s ALL weather boots. With inserts in the winter these boots are rated -30F, come spring and summer they can be worn +68 F weather! Like most families we want to make sure we get our bang for our buck, these boots met our standards and then some! Being a 3 in 1 boot saved us quite a bit of money and time. With Montana’s weather we usually buy our kids snow boots, slippers, for their classroom, and rain boots for the spring. Not this year! Side note: does anybody else dread shoe shopping with their kids?! They usually pick the most impractical shoes, that are gaudy, and down right atrocious… To be fair, the apple doesn't fall from the tree; I once convinced my Mom I needed platform sketchers, I absolutely loved them, lived in them, and they definitely Spiced up my life!! Any who, back to the rainy day extravaganza….

We made our way through our neighborhood, spotting birds and worms galore! Izzy was fascinated with the ripples in the puddles, made by the raindrops. She soon got tired of carrying Bun- Bun.. We tried hood carrying, but she wasn’t sold. Made for a pretty cute picture, though!

Besides raindrops, worms, and fresh blooms Izzy seemed to be loving her see through floral rain jacket from Joules. Not only is it incredibly cute, but, more importantly it’s functional! It’s lightweight, flexible, and keeps Izzy completely dry! I really wish they made this jacket in my size!

The adventure led us to a local lending library, and on the way home Nola’s bat Luna helped her to carry the book home. Kai enjoyed pointing out birds and whispering jokes to Izzy and his turtle Theodore (who is basically Kai in stuffed animal form) Needless to say, the fresh air was what we all required! I’m so glad that we had the gear to get us outside!