When it rains it pours

It has been raining here, a lot. And my kids have been climbing the walls, and the tables, and the couches, and the beds. So in the interest of everyone's sanity, we actually ventured out into the backyard and did some puddle jumping in an attempt to burn off some energy.


And the givers of karma rewarded me for allowing my children to cover themselves from head to toe with mud and muck and wet flower goo, as I finally found the source of the water in the basement - poorly installed downspouts. I had gone around early this year and reattached all of the downspouts that had come loose, but of course I did this when it was nice and sunny outside. Today, standing out in the rain trying desperately to take cute pictures of the kids splashing, I started to wonder where exactly all the water in my yard was coming from. And when I set off to investigate, I found that the downspout closest to the water's entry point into the basement was not in fact dumping water at the fence where it was supposed to go, but instead was leaking water all along the foundation.

So I struggled and battled the shrubbery, realigned plastic pieces, made liberal use of duct tape and swore under my breath more than a few times, but the end result was this:



Still not perfect, but much better and I think a trip to Home Depot tomorrow should solve the problem entirely. Plus, the kids were entertained for a good 45 minutes. Say it with me...Chichimama rocks!