Missing: Turtle!

Tonight, Brad and I were reading to Hannah when all of a sudden, Brad popped up to examine the turtle tank.

I heard, "Well, that's not good," and assumed that maybe Spike had passed away.  But instead, there was not a turtle in the turtle tank.

That was when Tuesday night got interesting.  With Jack screeching and moving so his feet weren't on the floor (where a turtle could attack!), and Hannah crying because her turtle was gone, Brad and I began a full-blown search:

I was just about to explore the hallway and Jack's bedroom, when I heard Brad call out, "Found him!"  He'd found a snuggly spot behind one of Hannah's toy buckets.

Crisis averted.  Thank goodness!

We have a tiny turtle...

...his name is not Tiny Tim.  It's Shelton.

Let it be known that for the last several months, our house has been pet-free.  Well, with the exception of the two fish, one in each kiddo's room.  And those are pretty new, too, actually.  We've only had them for a few weeks.

But today was exciting for Brad and the kids because their new turtle arrived from Wisconsin.  Brad's been pretty lost without his reptile hobby, and I think he wanted a little friend to take care of.  He's been researching online for weeks, and slowly, tanks and lighting and filters and heaters and stands starting arriving at our home.

The kids have known the turtle was coming for a few days.  Last night, Brad came in and told me that he and Jack had settled on a name.  Shelton.  SHELton.  Turtle shell?  Yes, I also thought it was pretty creative.  This morning, when I woke Jack up, I asked him if he knew what today was.  I was looking for Friday, but instead, he looked up at me, all excited and sleepy, and said, "Turtle day!"

When we got in the car to go to school, Hannah began to tell me about how Daddy is the only one that can stick his hand in the water.  "Am I going to put my fingers in the water?  No, I'm not.  Is Jack?  No, only Daddy's going to put his fingers in the water.  Not me."

They were excited.

I could barely get them out of their car seats fast enough when we got home because they just couldn't wait to run down to the basement to see their new turtle.  They just stood there for about five minutes, at eye level with Shelton's tank, watching in awe.

{Note: He looks gigantic in this picture, but his shell is only four inches long.}

*****

On another note - Hannah's good mood about the turtle didn't last for very long.  I can't remember exactly what made her melt down, but I know that she went into a tailspin that was so horrible it made me forget how it started.  We had originally planned to take the kids out to eat and to get some fish for Shelton, but I knew deep down that Hannah should not get to go out to eat post-tantrum.  When she behaves poorly, there should be consequences, and this is something we're working on.  I was able to convince Brad that he and Jack should go out together and have some special Daddy/Jack time.  Jack was so excited about this idea!  I think Brad felt bad leaving me at home with Hannah in her current state, but they finally left, and they had a great time.  Hannah felt sad that she missed the opportunity, and hopefully, that will entice her next time to be on her best behavior.  I'll keep you posted.

They went to eat at Red Lobster (Jack ate an entire plate of popcorn shrimp), and then they stopped by the pet store for some turtle snacks.  When they got home, Jack was beaming from having spent special time with Daddy and for having been rewarded for being good (and not with tangible things).  And I got to eat my favorite meal from Red Lobster and feel good about sticking to our guns and making tricky decisions.

Tantrum aside, it was a good night.

The Animal Game

*It's late Saturday afternoon, and the littles are sleeping.  The truly lovely thing is that I napped too, I just happened to wake up feeling naturally rested while they're both still asleep.  So, so perfect!  I'm sitting here, snacking on pistachios and updating my blog:)*

*After typing the above, as if right on cue, Baby Girl woke up from her nap!*

When Brad and I were dating, he taught me a game he calls The Animal Game.  We'd play on car trips or when we'd get bored.  I know - two wild and crazy kids right here:) 

The way we play The Animal Game is that one person thinks of an animal and keeps it a secret.  The other person has to ask yes or no questions to try and determine what said animal is.  For example, "Does it have four legs?" or "Is it a carnivore?"

Truth be told, Brad doesn't think I'm very good at the animal game because even though I think I know the answers to these questions, I often don't:)  Which means that I've inadvertently misdirected him into not being able to guess my animal.  It's still fun - we laugh about it actually.  Especially the time I was thinking of an octopus, and he asked me if the animal made a distinct sound.  I said yes.  Octopi on TV always seem to make a bubbling noise, or so I imagine.  Made perfect sense to me...

Anyhow, this week, Brad taught Jack how to play, but he changed it up a little bit so that Jack could be successful at his young age.  He taught Jack to think of an animal and then give descriptive phrases until the other person guesses the animal.  I heard them playing the other night for half an hour after I'd left the room, giggling and chatting.

The next night my jealousy took over, and I asked if I could play one round.  I described a sloth to the best of my ability, but Jack couldn't guess it.  Without even thinking, I said, "I tricked you - it was a sloth!" gave him a kiss and let the boys be.

Poor Brad spent the next half hour explaining that you don't "trick" your partner, that I just meant that Jack hadn't guessed my animal.  Apparently Jack was thinking of an animal, and then changing his animal when Brad was getting close.  Oops:(

Anyway, now we're back on track, and every night, Jack asks to play the animal game.  The other night, they decided to play while I was still in the room.  The first thing Jack said to me was, "No tricking, Mommy!"

This is how it went:

Jack: I have four legs.  I have black eyes.  I have a green shell.  Actually...I have four flippers, like to swim in the ocean.

Daddy: Hmm...are you a snapping turtle? (playing along)

Jack: Noooo... (big smiles)

Mommy: I know!  I know!  Are you a sea turtle?

Jack: Yes, a green sea turtle!

Next it was my turn:

Mommy: I'm a bird.  I have pink feathers.  I like to stand on one foot.  I live where it's warm.

Jack: What does it eat?

Mommy:  Hmmm...I think it eats fish.

Daddy: No. (shaking his head)

Mommy:  Oh, I think it eats plants.

Daddy: No. (still shaking his head)

Jack: But, Mommy...what does it eat?!

Mommy: I don't know what it eats Jack, but think of a pink bird that stands on one leg and lives where it's warm!  (For the rest of you who also don't know what flamingos eat, I have since learned they eat crustaceans, which is why their beaks are shaped the way they are.)


Jack: A mingo?!

Mommy: That's right!  A flamingo!

Jack had another turn in which he described a pig (four legs, pink, a little tail, like that kind of curls).  I realized he gets his inspiration from his headboard.  He has a sea turtle that lights stars up on his ceiling and a piggy bank nearby.  Cute:)

After our fun, I thanked my boys for letting me play, and then excused myself so that they could have guy time.  I'm sure the game goes much smoother when I'm not in the room!

Turtle Huntin'

Last Friday, Daddy got home early from work because he attended Jack's Father's Day party at school. We decided to pack up the kiddos and do something fun with our extra time together as a family, so for the first time this season (yes, they'll be others), we went turtle huntin'.  

I know, it sounds funny right?

It's like our own version of a suburban Swamp People.  And for the record, it's one of Brad and Jack's favorite things to do.  We swung by Harris Teeter, picked up some chicken legs, and headed to a local nature preserve where we proceeded to catch turtles.  Rather, Daddy and Jack proceeded to catch turtles, and Hannah and I looked on and took pictures:)

Turtle #1

This was the only picture I could get of Jack.  He was running around so excited, and all the other shots came out way too blurry!

"But I don't want to hunt turtles!"

Pretty girl

They really like chicken.

A lot.

Her hair was blowing in the breeze - we're getting closer and closer to ponytails.

Using her sippy cup

Turtle #2 was not as happy.

Quite a dinosaur...

Don't worry.  After Brad pulled the turtles out to take a peek, he carefully put them back into the swamp.  No turtles were hurt, only admired.  Well, admired by most of us, anyway:)

And while the next pictures were very underexposed...they were just too precious to delete.  So I tried to make them work.  

Have I ever told you I'm in love?  Because I am.

The Poop Turtle

Here is the video footage I promised of the turtle-feeding experience.  It's about six minutes long, but it's pretty cute if you're interested.  I like to listen to Jack and the crowd's (yes, there was a crowd, and yes, I scanned them so you could see) reaction to him.  Near the end of the video, Jack gets to hold a turtle.  Priceless, I tell you.  Especially the part where he exclaims, "I got a turtle in my hand.  I got a turtle!  I got a turtle!"  Enjoy!

A Crazy Full, Crazy Good Day

Yesterday Jack was finally feeling a lot better.  Thank goodness.  And while we had a lot to do (like grocery shopping, cleaning, and running other errands), we really wanted to just have a fun day with our kiddos.  So instead of dragging them around and doing things for us, we decided to make the day about them.  Or rather about Jack.  Since really all Hannah does at this point is eat, sleep, and go potty.  So we packed up our troops and headed to a nearby working farm.  The temperatures were actually much higher than what was forecast, so we were very hot, but Jack had a blast!

The chickens seemed to like being around our stroller

Ahoy matie!

Jack went for a ride on the cow train

He loves to collect rocks from everywhere we go

On his train ride

"Skipping" rocks

After the cow train ride, Jack and Daddy enjoyed the large slides while I nursed Hannah in the shade.  Then we headed out to go for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa.  We stopped and grabbed lunch on the way, and then when we got to their house we ate and visited.  Jack invited himself to stay and watch Spiderman They offered to keep Jack for awhile, so Brad and I went to run some errands with our sweet Hannah Bear.  We went to Home Depot and the grocery store, but it was fun because we don't really run errands together too much anymore and it was sort of like a mini-date since Hannah can't talk just yet!

We decided we'd go pick Jack up and that we'd all go see the poop turtle.  Let me explain.  A very large snapping turtle lives at a nearby nature preserve, and my hubby and my little boy love to go there and watch the turtles, look for the turtles, and feed the turtles.  We call the large snapping turtle the poop turtle because that is the name Jack gave the turtle all on his own the very first time he laid eyes on it.  I think it's because it's always covered in muck and mud, and well, it kinda looks like poop to Jack.  

A few weeks ago, while I took Hannah with me to work on the day my teammates returned from summer break, Brad stayed home with Jack, and one of the things they did together that day was to feed the poop turtle.  When I take Jack to see the turtles, we feed them bread, crackers, or bologna.  But not Brad.  Brad took Jack to the grocery store, bought chicken quarters, tied twine to the chicken, and proceeded to feed the turtles that way.  

And so that's what we did next.

One of the turtles held onto that chicken so tightly, we were Brad was able to pull him up to get a better look.

See?

And then Brad let him scamper back to the water

Jack and a friend he made at the preserve watching Daddy feed the turtles

Jack thoroughly enjoyed feeding the poop turtle.  In fact, come back tomorrow to see the video footage.  It's adorably funny, if you ask me.  

We stayed at the nature preserve until the sun was going down, and then we headed off to Red Robin to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  Jack was super-excited and loud and Miss Hannah Bear was just as sleepy as ever.  She's so easy to take along wherever we go - it's so nice.

When we got home, we got the babies bathed and in bed, super-late.  But totally worth our extra good day:)

Brad was so cute.  He works so hard.   A long commute, long hours, gets home late at night.  But yesterday- yesterday he was totally relaxed and had such a good time.  He said it was the best day he could remember in awhile.  Us too, Baby.  We're glad you had so much fun:)

We Brake for Turtles and Thankful Thursday

Meet Fluffy.  

Fluffy is a turtle that Brad saw in the street on his way to work this morning.  While Brad had full intentions of taking Fluffy to a nearby pond and releasing him right away, the weather had other plans.  It started to pour, so instead Fluffy spent the day in Brad's car, and when Brad got home this evening, Jack got to see "Mr. Turtle," which is what he promptly renamed him as.  After dinner my boys took Mr. Turtle up to a nearby pond to release him so that he could "be with his family."  Brad said Jack was really excited about the release - until they actually let Mr. Turtle go, and then Jack said, "Get him back, Daddy!"  

Daddy explained that just like how Nemo wanted to go back to the ocean to be with his dad, Mr. Turtle wanted to go back to be with his family too.  That seemed to make Jack feel better, and as they walked back to the car, Jack waved and shouted, "Goodbye, Mr. Turtle!" until the pond was out of sight:)  I'm pretty sure my little man is going to love animals just as much as his daddy.

*****

It's been awhile since I've done a Thankful Thursday post, so here's a list of the things I'm most thankful for this evening:

* a sweet husband who brakes for turtles on his busy morning commute

* my sweet Baby Jack, who told me just this morning that my hair was pretty

* the healthy baby girl who kicks and squirms all day to let me know she's here

* Ryan and John, who sent me a gift card for another Mommy to Be massage today - what a wonderful email to receive halfway through my work day

* the green buds on the tree outside of our house - just last week, I was telling Brad I thought the tree was dead and hadn't lasted through the winter, but sure enough, it's alive and well today

* cheap, summer sandals from Target

* $4.00 girly dresses (with bloomers!) for Peanut from Target

* the Help menu on my Mac which promptly helped me to find our shared drive when I could no longer take the fact that it was missing

* the fact that it's Thursday because, that my friends, means that tomorrow is FRIDAY:)