Welcome to de swamp - The legend of the Nozzle

Duncan loves to spray water.
I don't mind really, it's a relatively cheap activity for a 4 yr old boy, and he doesn't cause any hurt by spraying water out of his beloved nozzle.
When I say beloved nozzle, I really mean it is beloved.
Other kids have that special stuffed animal, or a blanket that gets loved to tatters.
Duncan has a nozzle.
It started when he was two and discovered the pure exhilaration of being able to control a stream of water at Grandma and Grandpas. Since we were living at my parents for 6 months inbetween selling our old place and moving into the new place that wasn't quite built yet, the boys had a glorious time in grandma and grandpas large backyard.
Duncan, being the curious type, always has to know how things work. He was fascinated with Poppas old nozzle and loved being able to turn the water off and on with a flick of his thumb.
Grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren, so his little addiction was fed by the introduction of a sprinkler and a whole variety of nozzles in various colours and assorted spray styles. Still first impressions run deep, and only the first nozzle he was introduced to would really suffice for his spraying pleasure. Poppa would let Duncan spray the vehicles when he washed them, and spray the windows at the back of the house. They have a sunroom that is floor to ceiling windows and a favourite activity was for Duncan to wash them.
When November rolled around and our new house was ready for us to move into, Duncan was thrilled when Poppa bestowed upon him the nozzle. It was probably 10 yrs old at that point - nothing fancy like the nozzles of today. Poppa was in the market for a new one with multiple spray heads, so Duncan happily took the old rusty one as a housewarming gift of sorts.
Winter is not a time for spraying water here in Canada, so Duncan's hopes of spraying in our own backyard were put on hold while freezing temperatures rolled in and caused us to take refuge inside on most days.
I had to laugh as he pretended to spray in the house without benefit of water, or even a hose. A nozzle was all he needed. He even took it to bed with him. A security nozzle.
Weird? Perhaps, but who can argue with the logic of a 2 yr old?
As spring rolled around, he got anxious to bring his nozzle into the backyard to spray. We had a hard time keeping the kids inside when the weather started to get nice. We finally got grass, but no fence to keep the little ones in. An absolute necessity with Duncan approaching 3, Matthew approaching 2 and me about to give birth any day. (that's a post for another day).
When the fences went up - Duncan was FINALLY able to take his nozzle out to our own backyard and spray to his hearts content. I was happy to have him stay occupied while I looked after our newborn son.
The only problem, was that the 0ld nozzle leaked. For my now perfectionist little 3 yr old, this was unacceptable. He wanted a new nozzle, but not just any new nozzle, it had to be exactly like the old one. We spent months scouring the walls of nozzles at Home Depot and Canadian Tire looking for something similar. Nothing would do. Duncan even asked Santa for a new nozzle like his old one. Santa thought "what a strange little boy" I'm sure.
FInally about 2 weeks before Christmas, I happened upon a tiny little Home Hardware store nearby and found - THE EXACT SAME nozzle!! It was 1.99, which I happily doled out, knowing that my kid would have the best Christmas getting exactly what he wanted!
Sure enough, Christmas arrived, and despite the boys being smothered in presents from grandparents - the cheap nozzle from Home Hardware was the hit of the season! He wanted to try it out right away. Not really possible in December.
This spring, I brought out the hose, and as soon as the weather was consistently above the freezing mark, we turned the water back on to the outside tap.
Duncan has been using his "New nozzle that Santa brought" for the last few months.
He even attaches all his nozzles together and makes a nozzle train, or hooks the nozzle up to the sprinkler - he loves figuring out different sequences of water attachments. He can hook and unhook a nozzle with ease, like a pro.
Which brings me to the present. He's now 4 and loves to spray water into the kiddie pool, dump the water and fill it up again.
This has turned our little backyard into something of a bog.
Combine that with the 40+ degree weather this week and you have a soggy smoldering festering bog that STINKS to high heaven.
We have had to shut the water off, and let the yard dry up a bit before we let Duncan out there with the nozzle again. Today is day 2. Yesterday wasn't so bad, as we went to Grandma and grandpas for the day, and he brought his new nozzle with him to spray in their backyard.
We remembered it this time when we came home. Last time we accidentally left the nozzle at Grandmas and Duncan didn't remember it until we were pulling into our driveway, 35 km away from grandmas house. The tears were unbearable, but we managed to get him into bed with the promise that we would pick it up first thing in the morning, and he certainly didn't let me forget about it as he padded into my room at 7:30am.
I need a checklist when I leave my parents house.
We remembered the nozzle this time, but accidentally left Duncan's favourite T-shirt. The one he wears everyday. It has Dash on it (from the Incredibles) and Duncan is convinced that the T-shirt helps him run faster. So we again have tears that the Dash shirt has now been left at Grandmas, and he's begging me to go get it, even though Grandma will be coming here in a few days. He's going to have to wear something else for a few days (OH horrors). Funny thing is that he only took off the shirt because it got soaked while he was....playing with the nozzle.
Irony is lost on a 4 yr old.
Today I am subjected to repeated episodes of Dora the Explorer while the backyard dries up.
We're expecting rain today too. That won't help.
I need to find some good indoor activities - something that doesn't involve crayons either - at least not until Matthew goes down for a nap - which he hasn't done in a long time....

Duncan is wearing a bathing suit and Matthew is wearing inside out pajama bottoms. Apparently he can't get dressed without HIS Dash shirt either, and since Duncan seems to have forgotten about his dash shirt for the time being, Matthew isn't allowed to wear his either.
Thank goodness at least Joey is content to play on the kitchen floor with a wooden spoon and an empty bottle.