The Semi-annual Ellis Backyard Mud Run

Inhales sharply, "Ooooh, I look just like Christopher Robin!" Indicates her overall shorts and rainboots. "Now I can pash in puddles!" And she's gone, out the door and into glorious mud...

The last hour feels like a special gift from God. Not just in the category of "every breath is a gift," but a sweet blessing to a stressed family.

A sweet, filthy, muddy blessing.

The semi-annual Ellis Backyard Mud Run is in full swing...

Our backyard floods every spring creating a small system of lakes. If our grass is going to suffocate anyway, we might as well enjoy it.

 She tells me, "It floats!" No sooner are the words out of her mouth then...

Here's what really kills me - the first mud run, they looked like this...

Where is the boy? He should be enjoying the muddy fun as a rite of boyhood. Unfortunately, Carrick is recovering from a double ear infection. He will just have to wait for another steady rain to join the fun.