A Scene From the Cat in the H...at. It Always Starts with a Great Idea!

then, the boys took over "our space" with an impromptu driveway-tennis ball-baseball game, so we moved our "chalk party" to the front driveway! A neighbor spotted Kayli out there and decided to come over to investigate...

pretty soon, it's time for Marion to head out to Nick's baseball game, but she tells me to feel free to stay as long as I want, since Kayli is having so much fun with the chalk. Well, little did I know, the fun had just begun! Next thing I knew, another little neighbor girl, was standing over Kayli's chalk art, dripping wet from the sprinkler she had been running through...

Emma wasn't sure what to say at this point, so I quickly assured both girls that playing with wet sidewalk chalk was indeed LOTS of fun! In fact, I offered to go in the house and fetch some water bottles... ohhhhh yeah, we all know where this is going, don't we???

now, everyone wants a piece of the action...it's a party!

Now, as it was nearing dark, and it was time to wind up the "water-chalk-party", I looked at this child of mine, in all her colorful glory, and decided we would not be leaving for home without a visit to Aunt Marion's bathtub! 

and this is where the "cat in the hat" similarities began...

Kayli had more fun in the bathtub, with bubbles and bar soap, but once we drained the tub, there it was, the infamous colored tub ring that wouldn't wipe out with a simple swipe of the washcloth! Now, since I didn't have a "mother's white dress" like the cat in the hat, to take out that ring, I'm rummaging through the house for some magical 4*09! Ok, found it, cleaned the tub, and now I'm putting away the chalk buckets and water bottles, but wait, the water bottles are now multi-colored...permanently! Whoops. Didn't anticipate that one. So, what's so bad about rainbow colored water bottles. I "worked on them" for a while, in the kitchen sink, and then just decided to leave them drying in there, and let Aunt Marion wonder about them when she spots them lying in her sink in the morning! That's my own added fun.  Yep, all in all, I would say the MESS was worth the happiNESS!