a tiny misunderstanding

James came to the back door to complain about Evan splashing mud on him. I looked at James, already spattered with plenty of mud.

I said: "Ask him to stop, but if he does get more mud on you, it doesn't really matter, because you're already muddy."

James heard: "It doesn't matter how muddy you get! In fact, why don't you go ahead and cover yourself in mud, because I don't think you're muddy enough already. You can never be too muddy! ... And don't forget about your brother; make sure you coat him in mud too!"

Evan Batman was very sad about having to come inside and get into the bathtub:

By the way, I know he doesn't look terribly muddy in that photo, but bear in mind that most of the mud on his body had by that time dried to a much lighter color.

James had literally painted his legs with mud. This photo was taken after he'd already started washing off:

The bathtub was filled with muddy water:

I was too busy at the time to think about taking a similar photo of the laundry sink while I was rinsing out the boys' clothes. Let's not even talk about James' sandals, which were about five pounds heavier with all the caked-on mud.

You know, after six and a half years of mess, dirt, sand, mud, muck, and bodily fluids, you start to think you've seen it all, that they've exhausted their capacity to disgust you, but kids always find a way to surprise you.