I'm just going to think of this as a practice run

My attempt to take the kids to play in the water this morning was an epic fail, on so many different levels.

Turns out it's exponentially harder to get two children ready for a wading pool than one.  Even so, I had lunches, towels, a change of clothes for each, extra diapers (swim and regular), water bottles, sun tent, sunscreen, sun hats and a carrier packed and ready to go by 10am.  All I had left to do was to give Z his snack, nurse Miss S when she got up from her nap, change both children into their swim diapers and swim suits, slather sunscreen on every bit of exposed skin, and load everything into the car.  (Note:  The operative phrase in the previous sentence is "when she got up from her nap".)

At 10:30am, Miss S finally decided to wake up.  I changed, nursed and sunscreened as fast as I could and was able to get them buckled in their car seats and on the road by 11:15am.  I tried to call Holly, who I was supposed to meet at Matthew's Beach (at 10am), but of course I forgot my phone.

Since it was so late, I decided to change plans and take the kids to the wading pool at Wallingford instead.  I'd already double-checked to make sure that it was open (thanks to budget cuts, half of the city's wading pools are closed and the rest are only open a few days a week).  We got to Wallingford at 11:30am, unloaded the car, and made our way to the playground.  As we entered, I noticed with considerable alarm that the wading pool was empty.  As in, without water.  Dry.  Turns out, they don't fill the wading pools until noon -- which is not at all useful to a mother of two young children who nap at 1.

I immediately turned the parade around and headed back to the car, desperately trying to think of another nearby place that would have water to play in.  Time was of the essence due to lunch and nap times.  We loaded up again and headed to the Ballard Commons, which has a water play area filled with fountains.

We got there at 11:45am, unloaded the car, and set up camp near the fountains.  Z was a little wary of the fountains and wanted to watch before getting in, so I carried Miss S and stood with him on the side.  Suddenly, all three of us were doused with a bucketful of water, thrown by an older kid who was very close to being strangled by this protective mama bear.  The only thing that saved the older kid was the fact that both of my kids were terrified and screaming at the top of their lungs, so I needed to attend to them.

Completely distraught, Z no longer wanted to be anywhere near the water fountains.  We prepared to have our picnic lunch on the grass instead.  As I carried Miss S to the grass, I realized that she had pooped in her swim diaper.  Anyone with swim diaper experience knows what that means:  if just one drop of pee touches the inside of that diaper, it will immediately burst.  So of course, Miss S peed.

I gave Z his lunch, changed Miss S into a regular diaper and her spare outfit, and used diaper wipes to try to clean as much of the explosion off of my clothes as I could.  I was not very successful.

Both kids finished their lunches, I packed everything back up in the car, and we headed home for naps.  The only water that either child touched during the entire excursion was from the bucket that the brat threw on us.  Next time, I'm just turning on the sprinkler in our front yard.