Rain, rain, go away....Please!

It has rained for so many days that I can't even remember when it started. Our backyard does not drain well either so we have a very soggy, muddy mess! Plus, Eric started putting extra patio paver tiles around our patio to make it bigger last weekend. He didn't get finished so there was a lot of exposed dirt which is now a huge puddle of squishy, watery mud. It is torture for my children to see this and not touch it. I have held them off for a while but yesterday it happened. Lyla wanted to go out and I "made a deal" with her that she would only swing, not get in the mud. Well, that didn't last long. So, the next deal was that she would only step in it. Then Grace went out. Around that time I realized my freezer hadn't shut last night and everything was melting. I started pulling everything out and wiping the freezer out. Eric came downstairs in a few minutes and said, "Jenny, look at them!". I looked outside and Grace was putting mud in Lyla's hair! So much for our "deal". Even though I didn't approve, I still had to take pictures to document what my girls love to do. They were covered! Their boots were full of mud, their clothes are still soaking in Oxyclean and Eric sprayed them off with the garden hose.

Today they wanted to go out again! Eric took them to the river to fish in the rain. They came back muddy and wet, of course. Then they went out again later to "walk in the rain". I made them go in the front yard this time where there isn't so much mud, just water. One romp in the mud is fine and manageable but my girls can't just do it one time. I feel guilty for disliking it so much. It is a kid thing to do, right? Play in the rain and mud? But, I really wish this rain would please stop!