The Missus, Action, and myself are on our way to Shirlington to visit my friend, Sidsel, whom I haven’t seen in almost twenty years. We’re still on our “Meet the Baby tour, trying to catch up with our friends and family that haven’t met Action yet. At the rate The Missus and I are going, Action will be going to college by the time she sees everybody, but I digress. With our last outing fresh in my mind, I’m wondering what shenanigans Action has in store for us today.

We meet up with Sidsel in Shirlington on a beautiful summer day. It’s perfect weather for walking, talking and catching up. We stop at a restaurant to get something to eat. While we’re eating and talking, I’m giving Action the side-eye the entire time, waiting for her to act up. Nothing. Action seems to be enjoying her surroundings and really seems to like Sidsel, which seemed help keep her calm (FYI, it takes Action a while to warm up to people; She’s more receptive to moms.)

After lunch, we go for a stroll to walk off what we ate. We stop by some benches to continue to catch up. There are some water fountains there. They look nice, but the water smells, like they need to replace the water. Of course action makes a beeline for the fountains to start playing in the water. I try to stop her, but the Missus tells me to let Action be, saying,’ It’s just water, she can’t get into any trouble.”

*slow blink*

“Are you Serious?!?” I think to myself. This is Action McGee; she can a rubber ball and a Q-Tip and turn it into an All State Mayhem commercial!

After a while however, I start to relax. There are two moms there plus myself, so I figure we’ve got Action covered. I pull out my camera phone so I can start taking pictures. The sun is out and the beautiful scenery is making for some great pictures. I’m having so much fun that I’m becoming oblivious to whats going on just a few feet away. I take a break from picture taking too see if I have some good shots. I just got a Galaxy S7 so I was dying to see how the photos came out. As I’m admiring my handiwork, I notice Action at the edge of the pictures. In each successive shot, she’s getting closer and closer to the fountain. When I see this last picture, I think to myself, “She wouldn’t.”  *ppfffft* who am I kidding? Of course she would. By the time I put my phone down to grab her, it was too late.

Action sticks her head in that stinky water and starts taking a bath, like she’s purifying her soul in the Ganges River. Her little afro-puffs were absorbing the water like sponges. I pull her out from under the fountain, her shirt half-soaked with water streaming down her face. Shes blowing water out of her mouth and nose like she just finished diving in the pool. I look at Action and she’s looking at me, just dripping like a wet puppy. I turn to the Missus and say “here you go.” Sidsel is laughing. We all are at this point. She tells me that that’s just what kids do and to “wait til Action gets older!” Not comforting. If this is how Action is now, then I’m positively screwed when she gets older. We drove home, with a smelly  baby in the backseat saying “Do you smell that?” the whole ride home. I’m pleased to say that Action didn’t  get some sort of infection from her spiritual bath.

I will admit, out of all of Action’s misadventures, this one was pretty mild on the Trauma Charts. I guess she’s letting me rest up before the real fun begins.

Heaven help me.