The Fifth Annual Pig Roast

Hebe learning to love the water.

My personal highlight of the 5th Annual Pig Roast happened when the pig had been eaten.

Laynie brought out her water balloons for our after dinner entertainment, and the balloons were soon lobbed from the grass below, up over the second level railing and began to splatter with direct hits on casual diners, or to be re-lobbed by them if they were still unbroken. Catherine claims the one she threw was meant for her father, but I was the one who looked up upon finding myself soaked -- only to see her laughing face.

The person who was not laughing was little Hebe, who was in the bedroom crying her eyes out. Bonnie Wyora and others went in to see if they could calm her down, but it was not the high energy of the water fight that was bothering her. She said she was crying because she didn’t know how to get in on the water fight.

 ...unabashed delight and no water fear ...

Wyona had her by the hand and out onto the porch before others could even process the information, picking up still filled balloons and showing her how to throw them at people. The nature of the game changed. Seasoned water-fighters stool still to let Hebe use them as targets. And when Hebe got the idea that using water filled balloons was good, imagine her joy as being shown how to use the house that was laying on the deck, still hooked up.

 ... Hebe's water-fighting siblings and cousins ...

The fun might have been seeing Wyona teach Hebe how to put her finger in the nozzle to get a fine spray pointed on someone else.

The screams of cousins willing to stand still long enough so that she could hit them were as loud as if they had been real.

Water-fight initiatory rites  -- fantastic for the young and the old!

Arta