It was Grandpa's idea...

There are a few things we've come to expect from Grandpa Walton's visits... and he did not disappoint. Within the very first minutes of getting here he started in on his 'classic Grandpa Walton bag of tricks'...

• singing 'There was a Little House' with Luke and the excited backup singers,
• playing Grandpa's own version of Pictionary with the kids,
• showing Megan and Luke how to play 'Lather and Shave',
• coming up with a timed obstacle course in the house which EVERYONE participated in... Chris won, with a faulty hip and everything. Ryan was second. Even Grandpa raced (with disapproval from Grandma) and yes, his back was sore the next morning...
• teaching the kids the '3 Billy Goats Gruff' readers theater edition,
• asking the kids a series of random questions like 'what animal does bacon come from?'  The kids LOVE Grandpa's questions!
• instructing Luke to shoot Grandpa with 'finger gun' to watch Grandpa's dramatic death scene, (again more disapproval from Grandma)

you know, the basics. Well, now we have another thing to add to list.

• playing outside in a rainstorm... in your bathing suit!

One of the things Grandpa was most looking forward to on this trip was experiencing a good 'ol Southern rain storm. The kind that puts a 'river' through our backyard. And on his first morning here he got exactly that. Mom and I and the little boys had dashed off to the mall for a fabulous shopping trip and left Grandpa watching the four older kids at home. While we were gone, the rain poured, and Grandpa couldn't help but put his bathing suit on and run outside. The kids are always asking me to do this and I usually say no. They looked at Grandpa stunned and asked if they could do it too. Pretty soon they were running, slipping, sliding and even surfing (on make shift skim boards) in our mud river. I'm not sure if Grandpa was slipping and sliding but he was out there in his bathing suit. We saw the wet bathing suit to prove it and a glimpse of a picture with him showing off his muscles... priceless. The kids had so much fun. And you can bet, that when Grandpa comes again they'll be expecting some more playing in the rain.