Pure joy.

"While we try to teach our children about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

-Angela Schwindt

(By the way, I totally copied my blogger friend Carol's style of starting a post with a touchy-feely quote.)

So last Sunday we were trying to figure out how to spend our afternoon. All I knew for sure is that I did not want to stay home. I needed to get out of the house.

Khan stumbled upon an ad for some Earth Day festival in Dunedin. Farmer's market, crafts, food, music, and it was supposed to close with a night time lantern parade. Sounds promising, we decided. And off we went.

Yeah, it was a little underwhelming. It was probably our timing -- late in the day on Sunday -- by that time most everything was gone. A random dancing chicken was the highlight.

Lily was not a fan. 

But we had come for the lantern parade anyway. I thought it sounded like a fun thing to try to shoot, and I figured Lily would love the whole lantern thing after watching Tangled 700 times. (<--only a slight exaggeration.)

After the chicken, we decided to find some dinner. (ha!)  We went to Casa Tina's, a Mexican place that always looked good but we had never tried. 

Lily worked on an important project. She cut her tortilla chips carefully with a butter knife, then placed a small piece on each number of her little coloring sheet. I don't get it, but it seemed to have real purpose in her mind. 

There were acrobats. Maybe I don't go to Mexican restaurants often, but this was a little strange to me. 

After dinner, we had some time to kill before the parade started. Then it started to sprinkle. We stopped under a covered area outside a closed restaurant. Lily entertained herself for a bit. 

But then it started to pour. Florida-summer-style. Khan and I wondered if we should just wait it out and see if the parade would go on anyway. This kind of rain doesn't last long, we decided. 

(These photos, technically speaking of course, suck. They're grainy because there wasn't a lot of light and my ISO was set high. Either I've reached the limits of my gear, or the limits of my ability, probably the latter. But I have to share these pictures even though I know they suck.)

Lily, however, didn't give two craps about a parade, high ISO, or anything else. She just wanted to play in the rain. 

She pretended to wash her hair. It's just water to her. It's not dirty rainwater. 

She pretended to make a cup and drink it. 

But mostly she just danced, stomped, and giggled. 

Honestly, when was the last time you felt joy like that of dancing in the rain?

When you didn't care that your white shoes were getting dirty, your hair and clothes were wet, or even that the parade you came for was definitely not happening? When you weren't thinking of anything else -- not the long drive home, the price of gas, and most definitely not thinking of  your to-do list? 

Just pure, simple, untempered happiness. 

Thanks, beautiful girl, for reminding me of a feeling I might've forgotten.