playing dirty

There are literally a dozen other posts I should be writing - ones I've been intending to write for weeks, or even months. But right now I can't resist the urge to show you these pictures and to tell you about my son's first experience playing in his very own back yard.
Yes, last summer I laid him on blankets in the grass and he rolled around, but this toddler of mine is a whole different human. He's really experiencing things now.
So far this Spring, our adventures had been limited to the front yard, which is unfenced and small. Mostly I corral him in and away from the road and he gets angry and the whole thing lasts about ten minutes. We've been doing this because - and this is embarrassing - there was dog poop littering every square inch of the back yard. It was a mine field of varying levels of decaying shit. Yuck.
Today I spent nearly three hours in the back yard during Drake's first nap picking up poop, trash, and sticks and then raking the entire thing (I am going to be so sore tomorrow!). All so that Drake could play in his back yard (and so that I wouldn't gag when I looked out my back window). It was so worth it.
I mean, do you see that kid's smile? He played hard. Running after balls and throwing rocks and digging in the dirt and splashing in the dog's water bucket. He got good and dirty in his brand new 'clean' back yard.
He had his very first strip-before-you-go-inside experience.
Welcome to your childhood, Son. Soon enough we will be hosing you off in the back yard from the messes you make on your outdoor adventures. But I promise to be right there with you. Anyone who knows your Momma well knows that she's always loved to play in the mud.