Magic

Having a creek behind our house was a selling point. Children should have a place to explore and imagine, and this place is full of that kind of magic.
The neighbor kids are good for playing there with, as are various friends. We've learned that one must wear old shoes and not care about getting dirty down there. When G and G spent the night on Sunday, they came prepared with old sneakers to mess around in, which was good since everyone got wet. The boy G went across a dangerous, rickety bridge even though Leila told him not to, and the girl G, who is younger than the others, got stuck on the other side of the creek for a bit. At some point everyone stepped into the rather yucky water, too.
A week ago I came home from the grocery store and heard screaming and crying as I got out of the car. I ran inside to find out where the kids were, and H told me the neighbor kids had gone down to the creek with them. By the time I raced back out, the scary noises had stopped, and I yelled out for them. They were on the other side of the creek- Both Leila and Ali had fallen in. Leila had slipped, and when Ali went to help her, she pulled him in, too. (Accidently!) The other kids had been smart enough to take a different route and didn't suffer any damages.  My two stripped off their dirty, soaked clothes in the garage and then went up for a shower.
I wish the magic included some sort of laundry doing.