It was another gloomy rainy day. It was 5 pm and I was antsy to get out of the house. I wanted to walk about 15 min away to the Tourist Info center, to pick up this weeks papers. I invited the kids to go for a walk with me in the rain. They respond “Yes!”, with no hesitation whatsoever. So we bundle up with what little “winter/rain” clothing we brought along and out we go, with no umbrella.
It was a cold drizzly rain, so I knew we weren’t destined to get soaked immediately. That is until my lovely 10 yr old, our son, decides to be Tigger and boing right into the puddle just outside our door. I knew this was going to be a fun walk, so we continue on with the spirit of our son. We walk around our building and are on the road just in front of our balcony. Alan comes out and apparently can hear our son jumping in all of the puddles from inside, with the doors closed.
Tidal Wave
About 5 min into the walk, our son is just full of energy. He decides to jump into a puddle near the curb (I can see the water is well over the curb). SPLASH! We all got wet on that one and his shoes, shorts, glasses and hat are also covered as well. A big family laugh occurs and then our son wants to know why we aren’t talking much (Because he has been talking nonstop!). I said “We are just enjoying the weather and the walk.” our son then proposes we play a game named “Purple Chicken“.
Rules:
- Each person gets 3 Purple Chickens to start
- One person challenges the others to “Do This…” (Like Dare)
- We will take turns telling the others to “Do This…”
- If someone doesn’t “Do This” they will lose a Purple Chicken
- The one with the most Purple Chickens at the end is the winner
Let the games begin
- Our son starts us off and challenged us to “dougie” dance for 6 meters (we complied)
- Our daughter challenged us to act goofy (we complied)
- I challenged the kids to walk up to a stranger and introduce themselves in Spanish, ask the other persons name and then say “nice to meet you”.
- Our daughter minus 1 purple chicken
- Our son did it! He walked up to a family of 3 and said to the man “Hola!, Me llamo …. Como te llama?” The man replies, “Me llamo Pepe”. Our son says “Mucho Gusto Pepe”. The man chuckles and says “Mucho Gusto!” And we are on our way. I can’t believe he did that, so fearless. 🙂
Bock Bock
We continue on our way and I spice up the games with more Spanish… say the months, alphabet etc… We arrive at the tourist office and have a nice visit with the Lady that works there. She wanted to know how things are going for us (we are regulars). The we are on our way back home. This time our daughtchallenged me to walk up to a stranger and introduce myself. Doesn’t it suck when you kids spit your own medicine back at you? I couldn’t do it. Who is the chicken now? Me, I lost a Purple Chicken!
Perrito!
There were several people out with their umbrellas walking their dogs along the promenade. I challenged the kids to talk to one of the dogs in Spanish. They both had no problem with that. It then turns our the older gentleman walking the dog was chatty. I think I chatted with him in Spanish for at least 10 minutes! I was so proud. We covered topics from the name, age, breed of dog, to how long he has lived in this area, how kids love to splash in puddles, as well as the USA presidential election and the Spanish Region of Catalonia wanted to break away on their own. It was great!
A walk in the rain, speaking with locals in their native language, kids laughing and having a good time = Priceless!
Make up your own games like Purple Chicken!