On rainy days the twins don't get to go for their afternoon walk.  It has taken a while, but they now understand "rain" and "raining" and go over to the patio door and look out and agree that it's raining.

But they have difficulty with the past tense, "it rained".   To them "it rained" has no meaning because they go to the patio window and look out and it is not raining now and now we can "Go bye-bye bickle bickle".

I don't know what "bickle-bickle" means, but the "go bye-bye" part is pretty obvious;  it means that grandpa has shown up, it's 3:30 and it's not raining so let's get the shoes on and go for a walk.

Which brings up the issue of puddles.   Puddles and children.  Puddles and twin girls, to be exact.   No one has to teach kids to step in puddles.  Or stomp.   Or to push your sister aside so you can stomp on the water.  Stomp.  Stomp.

No one has to show you how to bend over, squat down, and splash your chubby little hands in the water.  Splash.  Splash.

Nor do they have to be taught to wipe their hands on their pale, pastel little smocks.   But that's okay.  It's just water.  Sitting down in the puddle is also fun, but it tends to soak up the water.

That's okay.  The neighbor's driveway has two puddles, and the one beyond that has a big one and the water had a little bit of dirt, tar, mud etc. in it and the dresses were not just going to dry up and not show the evidence.

I told Shawn that no one had to teach the twins how to do this.   She agreed that this was true, but pointed out that while I hadn't taught them how to play in the water, I hadn't stopped them either.

All this happened last spring.  We've taken them through a few puddles since, too.  But this all came back to me rather clearly last week.  We were on the way to the mall.  The girls had on new shinny black patent leather looking shoes and brand new white leggings and saw some puddles in the street as we drove along.

"Find puddles at the mall, Gege," they pleaded in those sweet little voices. 

"Please?"

The older people walking back and forth to their cars at the mall just smilled at us as they passed.