Looking for Wormy

Our backyard neighbors have a little boy who just turned 4, so he's about a year older than Myah and Maysen. In the recent weeks, M&M have had the opportunity to play with Will in the backyards while the parents converse. Last summer, Will's parents started a new garden between their yard and ours. It's kind of a community garden, but right now it's just a mud hole. Of course, the kids love to play in it (pull weeds, dig holes) and when the girls wear their rain boots, I can't really complain.....needless to say, we are taking baths a little more frequently these days.
So anyway, Will has learned all about worms and how they help clean the soil, and make the soil soft and good for planting in. It's also often mentioned that worms help create compost (like many of us really know what that means). Will and Myah and Maysen's latest adventures involve "looking for wormy."
I am so proud of my girls for digging in the dirt and picking up those slimy critters. All of you who know me, know that I'm not really a "get your hands dirty" kind of girl. Sure, I'll play outside with my children, take them to the park, play in the sand box....but dirt, like real dirt, is just not my thing. It takes everything I have to plant 4 planters of flowers each spring, and I do that wearing gardening gloves! I don't care for camping, fishing, gardening, etc because it's dirty and I certainly don't care for worms. However, my girls would never guess it! I gush over every slimy, brown worm they pull out of the ground and name. I tell them "great job" and take their pictures holding the crawly little critters. Today Myah found a centipede, and that was a sight to behold. She giggled and awed over how quickly it crawled compared to the slow movement of the worms. It was an educational experience, and nothing like the natural observation of nature to teach her.
I remember the day I went to pick the girls up at Nancy's (our in home caregiver last year) and Maysen was standing at the edge of the sandbox with this expression on her face that read "why would anyone want to go in there and get all dirty?" That certainly was not the case today.

Happy Worm Hunting! (or just wait for it to rain and go look at your driveway)