2009 Christmas Advent #8

Daniel, alias "Dirty Dano", loved the dirt. He loved it wet, dry, cold, hot, up and down. This was taken in my Grandmother's backyard where there was a wet spot due to an underground well. It didn't take long for Dano to find it and make use of it. Needless to say the 'spot' grew into a puddle, which grew into a pit. He played in it every chance he got.


This picture was taken after a trip to a cub scout day camp where his brother had been for the day. I pulled up in the car and went around to get Daniel out of his car seat. I unbuckled him and he leaned over too far and fell to his hands and knees into the softest, smoothest, silkiest dirt he, or I for that matter, had ever felt. In a matter of minutes he was throwing it and crawling through it and burying his cars in it and generally making a mess. This was very common to me and I figured it would be more work and frustration to keep him out of it than just give in and let him be a boy. After about 1/2 hour a member of the bishopric came up to me and asked me to try and stop him as he was filling the air with dirt and it was getting in the food. (I think it was also a bit disconcerting for him as Daniel was making it look like so much fun that his son and a couple of other boys had joined in and were contributing to the mess.) I sighed, grabbed him, and gathered up the rest of my brood and went home. This was what he looked like when we got home. We had to fill the tub three times to get him clean. He looks so dang happy though! Who can resist that grin???