Rain Pain

After the hottest summer in the history of the world, the weather the past few days has been great! We need the rain more than ever, but does it have to come all at one time? Would it be possible to spread out the rainfall over the entire year, rather than a month?

Jake is having a really hard time with the rain. He loves being outside and just can't understand why he's not allowed to go out. At day care his class usually gets to go out for 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes in the afternoon. When I get him home in the afternoons, we usually spend another 30 minutes or so outside. Yesterday, Sunday, was a bit rough for the little guy. He wanted so badly to be outside but there was pretty much a steady rain all day. He kept finding things to get into in the house. I couldn't get upset with him, he was just bored. We tried coloring, breaking into the Lincoln Log set (for ages 3 and up) and the Mr. Potato Head we bought him before he was even born. All that bought me was about thirty minutes and several color marks on the tile floor. He was soon back at the door trying to get it open.

I eventually stuck a hat on his head, hooded up myself, and went outside. The weather didn't phase Jake a bit. He loved it, especially the mud puddles. I guess I need some cheap, easy indoor ideas that will keep him occupied. I want to get some finger paint, but I have visions of my walls turning colors. Not good. Help!