The Lake

I had a nice rock path on the side of the house. Nothing fancy, just a path with small stones that connected the driveway to the deck. I say had because as of last night, it's not a very nice rock path anymore.

The kids were playing outside while I was making dinner. They asked me if they could fill a bucket with water for the dam they were going to build. They build dams pretty frequently and it was hot out, so I said, "sure." Then they wanted more water to build a lake. (There's one section of the driveway that is lower than the rest and they like to make a lake there and then ride their bikes through it. Classy, I know.) More water was fine too. Then they asked if they could use the hose. No, they could not.

When I went outside to call the kids in for dinner, they weren't playing in the place where they usually build a dam. They weren't playing in the spot on the driveway where they usually build a lake. They were playing in the rock path. They dug a trench in the middle of the path and larger lake portion at one end. They filled it up with water and were sinking matchbox cars into it. (I'm pretty sure this act of engineering genius is proud parent moment #459 for me.)

I was shocked. The kids, however, were proud.

I made them fill in the hole and the trench. Do you know what happens when you dig up a once "nice" rock path? Underneath the layer of rocks is a layer of dirt. The dirt gets mixed up with the rocks. And do you know what happens when dirt gets mixed with water? It becomes mud. Lovely.

The kids wanted to tell their father about the lake they had made. I suggested it wasn't the best idea.

This morning I hosed down their shoes and then used the hose as best I could to clean up the rock path and make it nice once again. My theory is that if spray the rocks the water will wash the dirt back to the bottom. It does look better than it did last night but not as nice as it did yesterday morning. I may need to buy more rocks. But I'm sure you've already figured out how much fun it will be to shop for more of the same type of rocks. Or maybe I should give up and let the kids build their lake. I always wanted lakefront property.