O.T.R.

Some of you know that my husband is a teacher/naturalist.
So when he came to me a few weeks ago and said, "Hear that?  That's a Gray Tree Frog," I took it as fact.
(He is right about almost everything.)

He pointed out that the frog call was near the pool.
We've had a lack of rain this spring.
It wasn't long until he and Micah found the frog stuck to the side of the pool.

A pool that had not been prepared for summer.
Which means that the black tarp was still over the top and had collected what rainwater had fallen.
It was a perfect...should we say...pond?

Juli and Micah's code name for our activity?
Operation Tadpole Rescue.

My dad jumped in the very chilly water to walk the tarp over without dumping the pond into the fairly clean pool.

Mom and I used the skimming net to gather group after group of tadpoles.
And did you know...in the UK, this would be called a "cloud" of tadpoles?  And in Australia, it would be referred to as a "school"?  Here in the U.S., apparently we refer to a group of frog tadpoles as an "army".
So be it.
We rounded up the army of tadpoles.

As in a true army, there were many, many members.
More than a hundred.
Many hundreds.

It caused quite a bit of excitement among the younger members in the family.
We all need some excitement now and then.

It was decided that Todd would take the vast majority of the tadpoles to the Upper Lake at Lutherlyn.
(So if you're there for campfire this summer and hear a cacophony of tree frogs, we may have had something to do with that...)

It was also decided that we couldn't let this opportunity for summer learning just pass us by.
So Juli's old hexagon fish tank was turned into a temporary home for approximately 10-15 members of the army.
They are sitting on the table, and there have been arguments about whose turn it is to sit near the tadpoles.

Has an army of tadpoles ever felt more love?

Graduation Day

Twenty-four eager faces wait for their moment under the arch.

So many days have passed.  

Once-new backpacks now smudged with dirt and experience.

Tennis shoes begin to fall apart under the demand of miles run on the playground.

Their eyes, once filled with a tiny bit of fear at the unknown of School, now glisten with the glint of experience.

They own this.

They are graduating.

And Kindergarten is over.

Alleluia, indeed!

The faintest hint of rainbow graces the sky, as Micah looks forward to his future.

(The immediate future that is, which is Summer Vacation.)

Congratulations Micah! 

Nature vs. Nurture

 These pictures are mostly for my friend Meredith.

Mer and I worked together during summers at camp.  We shared a love for kids and camp, and an equally strong dislike for all things organized sport.  Especially dreaded were the "staff challenge" sports organized during family camp---the one or two hours a day where all available camp staff were expected to show up and play an organized game against the family campers.

We were the best cheerleaders around.  We could yell for our team and congratulate the good plays.  But when it came time for the lineup behind the dugout, we became especially creative about finding ways to be at the back of the line.  It just wasn't our thing.

Which is why I need to post pictures of my awesome softball playing daughter.
It's her first season, but she's got an eye for which pitches are good (and which ones aren't).
She's made a few good plays and gotten the opposition out at second base.

But that's not all.

Here she is at the awards chapel at school yesterday---walking up to receive not one, but two ribbons from Field Day.   (Which to be honest, was not my favorite day at school when I was a kid.)

I was really happy for her, because she was hoping to get a ribbon for one of her events.  And I knew that if her genes in this area were predominantly mine, well, she just wouldn't have had much of a chance.  (That's not self-degradation---it's merely how it played out in my life.  Did I ever tell you that it took me over 13 minutes to do the mile run in 9th grade?)

It's such a neat thing to see your kid go on to do well in something that wasn't necessarily your strength.  That whole "nature vs. nurture" thing.  Kids might not necessarily have inherited a specific aptitude towards studies, music, art, or sports, but with the right encouragement, children can enjoy and excel in many different areas.

It just still floors me that she enjoys sports.
Guess that's her dad coming out in her.
That's a good thing.
:)