When we dropped the first box here two weeks ago, Jacob started asking if he could go down to the creek and look for a turtle because he was so sure there were turtles down there. I was all like, "Sure" and "Maybe later" in that I-am-really-busy-right-now-please-leave-me-alone kind of brush off that tends to happen when you are stuffing all your worldly goods into a three car garage.
Eight hours later when I tried to sit down and take a breather, there was Jacob with a hand decorated box wanting to know if I was ready to hunt turtles.
*Sigh*
So off for turtles we went.
We searched for an hour and got nothing but a ton of mosquito bites.
The next day more of the same, yet a lot of me saying things like, "Turtles probably don't like neighborhoods." and "I am not going turtle hunting every day." and "Don't you have a new Game Boy cartridge you want to play?" except I got smart and unpacked the repellent that time.
No turtle = very disappointed little boy.
For the next few days we hunted turtles for shorter and shorter periods of time until the boy decided that maybe there really weren't any turtles down there after all so ending Turtle Quest 2008. Hallelujah!
And then. Then the turtle found us.
The husband opened the door one morning and there it was. Right there on our front porch. Just hanging out like he was supposed to be there.
I'll be damned. The kid was right. There were turtles out there.
This neighborhood is so fricking awesome, the turtles come to you!
Meet Shelly, ya'll.
Turns out, though, that Shelly is a snapping turtle and since we all enjoy having all our phalanges, we thought it best to set Shelly free to enjoy the creek once more.
So long, Shelly! It was fun while it lasted.
So now that we know there are turtles down there we're on Non-Snapping Turtle Quest 2008.
*Sigh*
We're going to need more repellent.
9 comments:
LMAO! Isn't that always the way!?! Just when you think you're done...they show up so quickly :D
Glad he found the turtle! Here's to hoping you continue to keep all of your extremities :D
Do you have a sam's club membership to get big huge containers of bug repellent? *G*
What a neat story! That must have been so special for Jacob.
I'm not saying you SHOULD do this, I'm just saying you CAN do this...
Buy a small turtle at the store. Casually place it on a rock where it cannot get away and BLAMMO! He has found a turtle that you won't feel bad about keeping as a pet.
Shhh....
Look at their sweet little heads, peeing into that bin. How cute. Why Shelly? Is it an obvious name- because of the shell? Or is it named after someone? Was just curious...
Very cute post. I giggled.
Brings back my childhood in NJ and MI, real states with real turtles. We used find painted turtles(so pretty) and keep them a day or so and let them go again. We lived near a real creek in NJ. The skeeters weren't as bad but there were leeches in the dark shaded area under the tree. Guess who found that out when her brother encouraged her to stand in the shade? Yeah. My brither sucked. :P
Love the story you made of this.
Lynsey,
Jacob chose Shelly for the obvious shell connection. He's clever, that one.
Ah, the joys of parenting.
How cool was that??????
May your non snapping turtle quest be a successful one!
Ask and ye shall receive. How funny.
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