The Adamson family enjoys a picnic in the springtime.
This is a very bad idea. The thought occurred to twelve-year-old Daniel Adamson just after the point of no return, when the frogs were already flying.
They’d had heavy rains and a large frog hatching and frogs were everywhere down by the creek. It had seemed like such a funny idea to collect frogs in a large jar and throw them on his oldest sister, Emma. But now that the frogs were on their way …
Eleven-year-old Emma shrieked and threw the nearest object — her lunch — towards Daniel, but as she was simultaneously trying to shake off the frogs, she missed and the food landed on another brother, eight-year-old Sammy. Sammy considered this as giving him permission and thus threw a pitcher of water — only the contents, though it was tempting to throw the whole pitcher — on his annoying little brother, five-year-old Dylan. Dylan retaliated and the food fight was on!
Daniel’s twin brother, Michael, had been quietly eating a little separate from the noisy picnic table; when he ran back to try to take control of the situation, he tripped over Daniel’s foot which was entirely accidentally in his way, and fell across the table sending food flying. Suddenly he too became a target of Sammy and Dylan and could not resist responding in kind.
The littlest child, two-year-old Lily, idolized her big brother Daniel. If Daniel was playing with frogs, then Lily would play with frogs too. Though most of them evaded her chubby hands, there were so many hopping about that she got a few, which she enthusiastically threw back among her siblings. The frogs were fleeing towards the creeks and she toddled after them until she tripped and fell into a mud puddle. Mud puddles being somewhat less interesting but considerably less mobile than frogs, she gave up the chase and settled for splashing in the mud.
Nine-year-old Vicky joined Emma in retaliating against Daniel. She kicked his feet out from under him and, once Emma jumped on top of him and began pummelling his chest, Vicky poured a bowl of porridge on his head and rubbed it vigorously into his hair while he was incapacitated with laughter.
Joshua and Amanda Adamson had left their children quietly enjoying their picnic. Steady, reliable Michael, they had thought, could be trusted to keep order for a hour or so. With seven children, they seldom got a chance to simply talk together as adults.
It was a nice break for them until the rising tumult caught their attention.
Running back to intervene, they stopped in shock at the chaotic sight, but Joshua was equal to the occasion. The police whistle was ear-splitting, and their entire food-covered brood stopped what they were doing and stood or picked themselves up shamefaced — except of course for Lily, who was happily dumping handfuls of mud into her own hair.
“Remind me why I married you,” Amanda said wearily.
“I think you said you wanted a big family.” He might have said more, except that one last frog, desperately fleeing, landed on his face.