Critters

We are thrilled to have some fun backyard critters!  I was mowing the other day and almost ran over this cute toad!  The boys were very fascinated and watched it until it finally got tired of being poked and talked to!  They really wanted to take it in the house and keep him, but I had to put my foot down.  Luke loves bugs, ants or anything creepy crawley!  Fun for me as he takes it upon himself to bring them in and show them to me.  He brought in a poor stink bug the other day who was outside minding his own business and threw it in the trash can only to get upset that the bug was lost in the trash! Appropriatley enough, he said the bug was home! He really wanted me to dig through it and find it for him, but again, I had to put my foot down!  Logan is a bug lover too, but he tends to bring in the dead or almost dead bugs and lay them on the table waiting for me to do something with it, like bring them back to life.  He gets very upset when I insist that nothing can be done, and it is time to bury it in the backyard (we now have several small burial plots in the yard).  I am proud that they enjoy the bugs and critters and love watching and learning about them rather than killing and being grossed out!  I hope they keep their gentle nature and appreciate all living things even those that I would rather not have in the house!!!

Logan wanted to name and toad and thought it was funny that it "tinkled" on me! And, when it left the yard, he was quite upset.  I had to explain that he was on his way to see family.  That calmed him some. 

We have some HUGE bumble bees because we have some amazing flowers in our yard!  Logan and I watched these bees for some time that other day! They were very busy!!!

I was not sure I was ever going to pull Luke away from that toad.  He is very intense about bugs and usually finds a bug or ant in parking lots of places I am trying to go to.  So, we end up spending 5 or 10  minutes of any trip out of the house staring at a trail of ants or a rolly polly until he is satisfied or distracted.  Yes, we plan extra time for bug spotting.  I love that sense of wonder and wish I was not always in such a hurry so I could appreciate it too!

Luke made this crown at the YMCA and insisted on wearing this particular day!  Love it!!!