We have loved the fact that spring has finally come to our neck of the woods! The kids and I spend a lot of time outside working and playing. They are also both in love with all living creatures - animals, bugs, worms, etc. And we currently have some critter watching going on at our house. Blaine reminded me yesterday that we need to check on these things every day:) First of all, Ava got a butterfly habitat for her birthday. We sent away for the caterpillars and they have been crawling around in their jars on the kitchen counter for about a week now. But they have started forming their chrysalids and will hopefully be hatching into butterflies next week. The kids (and me too) have enjoyed watching them change - amazing how God created a creature than can almost magically create a shell around itself and emerge as a butterfly in a week!
I also found some more critters to watch yesterday as I was trimming a tree that continually attacks me as I mow:) A mama robin about scared the pee out of me as she flew out of this small tree as I went up to trim some low branches. So I looked and found that she had a nest with four bright blue eggs in it. I am sure that the kids will love watching the baby birds hatch.
Our other critter is not one that I am nearly as excited about - as I mowed, I found that a chipmunk/ground squirrel had been digging an underground palace in our yard. I filled in his holes, but didn't take him long to dig them back out. We saw him as we pulled in the driveway last night, so we had to go check out his home then. Of course, he was tucked away inside, but after some waiting and watching, he emerged again. Ava went up for a closer look and inadvertently got between him and his hole. So he just hunkered down in the grass and didn't move at all. He stayed there forever, so Blaine had time to run down the yard and come take a look at him too.
They kept creeping closer and closer and Ava even then bent down to try and pet him. He finally decided to make a run for it then, but she almost touched him. The dog happened to see him about that time too and chased him into the tall weeds in the side ditch. I am kind of hoping that he was scared enough to dig a new home over there, but I am not counting on that! The kids rather liked the chipmunk though and Ava was trying to figure out if he was Alvin, Simon or Theodore! I asked her if it could possibly be a girl chipmunk and be a Chipette, but she assured me that it was not because the Chipettes on her coloring book or new nightgown had stripes down their face and this one does not, so no way it was a girl Chipette:)
We have some additional critters living in the rock pile I believe. I noticed last week that it looked like a rabbit had eaten all of my green beans in the garden. I finally saw one when I was mowing - he was by the rock pile. We have had rabbits living in there before and apparently they are back! Now I am wondering how I am going to get a good bean, carrot or lettuce crop from my garden...
Lots of critters and lots of fun. The kids can learn a lot from all these critter adventures too:) I just hope that my yard and my garden survive the critters!
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