“For ourselves, and for our planet, we must be both strong and strongly connected — with each other, with the earth. As children, we need time to wander, to be outside, to nibble on icicles, watch ants, to build with dirt and sticks in the hollow of the earth, to lie back and contemplate clouds…” ~Gary Paul Nabhan & Stephen Trimble, The Geography of Childhood, 2004
I love to be outside. For as long as I can remember, my summer memories have been of the time I spent exploring creek beds, rambling over the foothills picking crocuses, catching minnows in the fishing hole, and making grand mansions in the tall field grasses. Rarely would you catch me indoors before dark on a summer day.
I’m all grown up now, but I still love the outdoors. If the sun is out, I want to be out playing in it. And now I have my own little ones that can play outside with me!
My favourite part of summer is taking the kids camping. For 8 years now, I have hauled my smalls out into the wild and let them play freely with whatever the earth provides. This year, the earth provided a most wonderful thing…a muddy river bed, and COUSINS!! You would be surprised to see how many things a child can think up to do with a patch of good mud. You’ll be seeing some of those ideas later on, as we continue our Camping With the Smalls posts through the month of August.
But for today…we slide!
Cousin Ally was a pro at keeping the “slide” in good working order…
Her brother Rowan will show you how it’s done…
Oh, the sheer joy of a muddy splash!! The kids went time and time again through the mud, providing excellent opportunity for some great photos!
And how convenient it was to have the water right next to us to clean up before heading back to camp! And yes, the mud did wash out of their suits with no problem at all. And even if the mud had stained those cute little suits, what is a piece of fabric worth, compared to a memorable, and joyous day spent in such childish abandon? 
Thanks for stopping by!
~Arlee, Small Potatoes
Small Potatoes 
Oh, this looks wonderful, Arlee! My boys would LOVE this!! I think it’s neat how we are SO alike. Camping is my all-time favourite thing to do with my kids in the summer. I swear I could happily put in the entire summer out there in the forest. And I too, still spend all of my summer hours outdoors. The housework goes right out the window, but who cares. I’m out until dark, puttering in the yard, and then when it gets dark, I turn on the lights on the deck and read for hours. I think it’s a Canadian thing, eh? Our winters are so long and cold, we just want to milk every last drop out of summer-time while it’s here. 🙂
Priceless!
I laughed all the way through this Arlee….so much fun….I lovvvvvvve mud!!!!!!
Hehehehe!!! Thanks, Kelly!!! Me toooo!!! You should have seen some of the looks I was getting from some parents! (needless to say, their kids were NOT sliding along with mine!!) ;p
Lol… Im familiar with those looks…:-))))) x
Oh how I wish it were summer here in Australia. Love it! Totally priceless, great shots Arlee.
Amazing action photos! My daughter would love this and it almost makes me want to have a go too!
Wonderful photos I really enjoy your posts because you have such wonderful photos on your blog posts. What a wonderful idea about mud sliding.
Fabulous pictures! My best childhood memories involve mud! I have a vivid memory of a family seaside holiday with my two sisters, where we ‘waited’ on a muddy beach in our brand new beige corduroy jackets while my mum went to get the chalet keys, under strict instructions NOT to go down into the mud. You guessed what happened to those lovely jackets…
Hehehehehe! I have a very clear picture in my mind, and it’s making me giggle! Although, I doubt your mum thought it was funny at the time! 😉
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