Squirt! Crash course in multi-kids

On Marilla's third day the scorching heat wave finally abated enough to introduce Marilla to The Outdoors.  Not a big trip - the back yard.  She dealt with it the way she seems to deal with most everything so far - she snoozed happily away.

At one point Bec went inside for a well-deserved snooze and left Quinn and Rilla with me.  And the motion-activated sprinkler.  Quinn is of course fascinated with all things aquatic, and played happily with sprinklers and hose sections and nozzles for quite awhile under daddy's watchful and wary eye.  He was very good, being quite careful to not shoot water into the neighbour's shed upon my prodding (why daddy?).

Then he found the motion-activated sprinkler.  Gramma and Grandpa had brought it in to help us discourage our very cute but destructive neighbourhood groundhog.  I had hooked it up temporarily as a test and Quinn was very excited about it.  Now Quinn started to set it up again.  I half dozed off for a minute and when surroundings came back into focus I saw Quinn turning on the motion sprinkler that was teetering back and forth in an inadequate mounting hole in the ground.  I had visions of a wind-blown leaf triggering the sensor, the sprinkler tipping over and all heck breaking loose.

Rilla snoozed placidly in my arms, and thusly prevented from taking direct action myself,  I asked Quinn to turn off the hose.  After the requisite "why daddy" and explanation delay, he started to, upon which it triggered and immediately did almost a complete 360, Quinn having played with the side-to-side governors.  It sprayed daddy, Rilla, the house and the general vicinity, and scared the crap out of Quinn who had memories of grandpa being squirted square in the face.  I shielded Rilla and took refuge behind the barbecue.  Quinn took refuge under the removed blue plastic half-roof of his playhouse.  The sprinkler stopped.

With the situation seemingly stabilized but not yet rectified, I took stock: Rilla - mostly dry and still sleeping; Quinn cowering but safe; daddy - a little wet; mommy - not contactable.  I asked Quinn to make sure the hose was turned off.  He refused. After much imploring he at last reached up from his safety of cover and determined that it was, in fact, off.  But how much was still in the line?  After much coaxing I finally convinced him to pick up the sprinkler and point it away from everyone.  After one spurt it quickly peetered out and the baptism was over - Quinn having faced a fear, daddy having faced an outnumbered situation for the first time, and Rilla sleeping happily through her first water fight with her big brother.