Snakes

On Thanksgiving, after we had lunch, we headed over to Ft. Myers by way of US 41.  We had just passed the Miccosukee Casino and saw some flashing lights on the road that runs opposite the canal.  There was a strange police vehicle, and since I wasn't driving, I did the rubber necking.  I saw a man lift the end of something that looked like a black hose and I knew...It was a Burmese Python!

Now, I am the sort of person who, if I see flashing lights, I will look, but to me that says "keep away" and would never in a million years think it would be ok to go up and ask questions!  But Rob turned the van around and went back!  He asked if we could see and, it turned out, the police were doing something else and the python was being handled by a group licensed to remove invasive reptiles.  They also happened to be the winners of the Python Challenge.  So they were thrilled we wanted to stop and take pictures!

14 feet!

The python had actually been shot by a park ranger inside Everglades National Park. 

They also caught this smaller Burmese Python, but they let it live.

And if you are curious - the police were out there investigating a possible bomb - we did not hear the outcome of that though!

A Little Dessert...

Pumpkin Bars, Pecan Tassies, and Apple Pie Cookies.

Are You Hungry Yet?

A Day of Dioramas

This week was too busy to do our normal school load, so on our one free day (Monday) I decided we'd use the extra time to do some neglected art projects. Both of the bigs wanted to make dioramas. 

Annalise's

Annalise drew out her design, which was to have a wintery house with Santa halfway down the chimney.  The red under his head is the chimney and the red streaks on the roof are his boots (she never explained why he had to take them off.)  Note the snow angel on the front lawn!

Caleb's

Caleb picked up a new Titanic book at a garage sale last weekend.  Although the wreck of the Titanic has not been a recent interest, it has been a recurrent one.  He loves to make paper boats and he made several tiny paper boats before he was happy with the size of the lifeboat.  Mercifully, he did not want to make little people!  You can see the tip of the iceberg in the back.

You can see the underwater part of the iceberg in this picture:

Natalie expressed interest in making a diorama (of an American Flag), but she got distracted by something and didn't press me for it! I was kind of diorama'd out, so I didn't remind her.   Another time, another time...

New Frog in Town

Here we go again!

 We are frog owners again.  Caleb beg beg beg beg begged to keep it and I was *this close* to insisting he let it go when inspiration struck -I told him that he could keep it if he wrote a story about it every day and when he was tired of writing stories about it, he had to let it go.

Folks, this is going to make a writer out of this kid.

Really it's kind of cute :)

 So we pulled out the old acrylic aquarium and set it up - this time with an island and some philodendron to make it more homey.  The little thing really likes the plants.  I didn't realize with our last frog that during the day, frogs want to hide.

Frog keeping has a bit of a learning curve.  We were replacing the screen on the lid and I knew we wanted a trap door to toss crickets in.  I cut up a plastic bottle to make strips to reinforce the hole when I realized the perfect solution was to make the bottle neck and lid our trap door. 

Crickets like to hide in tubes (being a frog raiser means you are a cricket raiser too) and they make these cricket containers that have tubes built in that can slide out to just shake out in your cricket-eater's home.  I think they look flimsy and I want to try to make one, but my first attempt resulted in crickets loose in the house.  I may have to break down and buy this thing.

In short, Caleb is happy with this arrangement, I'm happier with it than I thought I would be, and we think little Froggy is happy too - at least he hasn't complained about his new situation.

Quoteable Natalie

N:  Mommy, when were you born?
Me: 1976
N:  Wow!  That is sooooooo cute!

Somebunny Loves You

Bugs All Around

We found a lot bugs while we were in Arkansas.  I'm ok with most bugs.  I don't like cockroaches or palmetto bugs and I can't get past the slime factor of snails and slugs, but unless they sting, try to move in, or eat something I was hoping to eat myself, I can usually tolerate them.

Stick Bug at the diamond mine.  I think stick bugs look creepy.

Crickets in the Mist at Mount Magazine

Just like Momma - this is just the shell of a cicada, I liked to collect them when I was a kid - mostly because they crushed in a very pleasing way.

Wheel Bug again!  I'd never seen a wheel bug before our trip, but I found two in my parents' yard.  This one was laying eggs - and lots of them!

Some Wheel Bug trivia - they are assassin bugs, so they eat other insects, particularly insects that are considered pests.  They aren't bad to have around, but you should not try to pick them up (I don't know why you'd want to, they are big and do not look friendly at all!) their bite is comparable with a bee sting, but takes much longer to heal.

Digging for Diamonds

We stayed an extra day in Arkansas just to go to Crater of Diamonds State Park.  The weather was drippy most of the days we were there and Friday - the day we planned to leave - it was all supposed to clear up and be beautiful.  I grew up thinking Arkansas was the only place in North America where diamonds were found, but this is not true.  It is however, the only diamond mine open to the public, apparently, in the world.

Natalie isn't sure she wants to sit next to the scarecrow.

Today's Trivia Tidbit.

Look!  I found a diamond!

On the hunt.

Caleb got bored of digging after a while and made dams in the water draining from the shoe cleaning area.  This kid loves to build dams and divert water.

They've definitely found something!

We spent quite a while digging, sifting, and washing out dirt and rocks.  And in the end we did not find a diamond, but we did find...

A DIME!

Trunk or Treat

Trash Skeleton!  My kind of decoration!!

For Halloween this year, I was very excited to be in Arkansas.  Like Christmas (and New Years and Valentine's Day) there is something weird about it still feeling and looking like summer for these holidays!  My mom had already made plans to participate in a trunk or treat.  She had to pick a theme and dress up to match the theme, so we decided that we would all dress up to match the theme.  Annalise wanted to be a mermaid and Caleb wanted to be "something scary", so we decided on Under the Sea. 

My mom is a Jellyfish!  I wish I had a night picture - she put colored lights under the umbrella and the effect was really cool.  I am a School of Fish.  My fish were duct taped to my shirt and they fell off everywhere!  I kept finding one on the bottom of my shoe.  I know there were people walking around with fish on their feet!

The shark!  From the side, he looked very dinosaur-ish.  The kids really liked helping glue in all the teeth!

Mermaid!  This was a really easy costume, I used an old skirt, but it would be easy to do with a flat sheet.  I ended up cutting the back out completely and fastening it with velcro. 

Rainbow Fish!  Natalie loved wearing this around the house!  I learned a lot from making Thomas a few years ago.  This costume was much more balanced (Thomas was very front heavy) and lighter.

Everyone's favorite!  The Angler Fish!  Rob got soooo many compliments on his hat :)  Again, the tricky part was the center of balance - but it worked out in the end.

In the dark - creepy!!!

Candy Treasure Box!

Trunk or Treating makes you thirsty!

The next night (neither night was actually Halloween) we went to another church's event and they had cotton candy, snow cones, brownies AND candy!  Talk about a sugar high!  Now that was scary!

There was another hay ride (the first night) in the dark, so the kids have been thoroughly introduced to hay rides.  Both events gave the kids tickets to exchange for candy.  Is this a new thing?

Hanging Out in Holly Springs

I once heard my Nanny complain of how people used the phrase "hanging out". I think to her it probably was equated with being idle, but we were anything but idle!

Annalise and my mom miss sharing a birthday by just one day.  So we re-celebrated birthdays all over again.  My mom found this cow cake in a magazine and we recreated it.  She baked it, I iced it and Annalise added the details.

Natalie provided the taste testing free of charge.

My "utterly" fantastic Mom.

Most requested activity.

Bonfire - check!  (To me this isn't much of a bonfire, but it satisfied the kids!)

Pecan cracking (and eating)

NOW SHOWING: Dances with Grandpa

Not bad Natalie, now you can do the backyard.

Natalie and Nanny Bear.  I've had Nanny Bear so long, I don't remember when I got her.

Mount Magazine

On top of old smokey....

After the wedding, we visited Mount Magazine - the highest point in Arkansas.  I am sure it is a beautiful place.  Fortunately we didn't lose anyone in the fog.

We don't see many acorns.

Tiny spiders are soooo cute!

Did I mention it was a little foggy?  This was the view of the valley below.

I think we were actually in a cloud.  But the cloud made for some good kid pictures :)

One of the girls found this creepy bug on the wall of the bathroom.

We didn't touch it, and it's a good thing we weren't another bug!

Little did I know that this would not be my only encounter with the Wheel Bug!