Raheem knocked early today. 10:15ish AM. He's normally not awake by then. Of course, Shane wanted to play. I watched the boys from the window as Shane described everything there was to know about our plants to Raheem. I don't know if Raheem was bored enough to listen, interested, or it just took that long for him to get a few words in to convince Shane to do something else (I suspect the last one). I went outside when they started to move around the circle more.
Surprise, surprise, Carrie brought Max out! We still have a harness or two from when Carrie and I were dating. I wasn't used to cats and I wanted to see if I could have some fun and/or get them to be a little more dog-like. It didn't work, but Max likes to be outside.
I'd hoped we'd find kids. We didn't. Shane wanted to play on the playground. Rah wanted to play on the courts. I agreed to play a game of RAHEEM (aka Horse) with a soccer ball (I lost). Shane only wanted to play on the court after he saw I was involved.
When I sat down, the game stopped and Shane ran off to explore nature. He started to throw rocks in the water and that got Rah's attention.
None of the water is very deep. There is broken glass sometimes, so Shane always has to wear shoes.....which I didn't realize he jumped in the water with until it was too late. My goal is always the same: Keep them safe enough while letting them take risks and play. Shane would have liked to have gone through the drain pipe to the other side, but I nixed that (Not to say I haven't done it myself as a kid but not while my parents were around).
The boys started trying to traverse down the creek the other way.
I followed up on the ledge out of their sight, but they were in mine. I knew where they were going, so I watched and hopped onto the path ahead of them....
....and almost stepped right on a snapping turtle.
I caught myself before I was too close. I yelled a, "Woah!"swung my step to the side, and turned it into a leap.
The snapper was dead. If you don't know much about snappers, they are a threat. Especially on the ground. I was super cautious checking it out. I came up from behind, pulled on the tail, and eventually flipped it over. I checked the Virginia Herpetological Society's ID guide once I was sure it wasn't going to move on us. It was an Eastern Snapping Turtle. I started to read stuff out loud to the boys as they examined it.
Random fact: Many have leeches. This one had them on it's back legs.
I didn't seen any obvious cause of death. No external wounds or anything like that. There was a lot of trash around, so I assume the turtle ate something that killed it. I'm not an expert.
I was extra paranoid, because I'd read a story about a rattler biting someone in TX after it's head was cut off recently. I didn't want to let the boys near the mouth. I know that's silly, but I was also a little concerned to see a big enough snapper on the trails we walk. Shane likes to wear sandals and is stupidly curious.
It was an adventure, though. Nothing like a little danger and a tense air to make you feel alive. We went back to the playground after.
The boys adjusted their swings' heights and climbed up. Rah needed to use me a stepping stool.
We stayed out for over a couple of hours. Shane learned why he's supposed to tie his shoes before riding his bike on the way home.
There are so many lessons in life you can hear, but experiencing makes allllll the difference!
I had to drop by work to take care of something, so we said our, "Good-byes." Rah wanted to know if we'd be around in the afternoon. Sure enough, he started dancing on the sidewalk when he saw me drive back an hour later.
Henry must be out of town, because we were the only ones on the street. I remember talking to Mikaela about it.
The boys played around with Kingdomino and with running around. I was ready to call it when it was dinner time. The rain started to sprinkle and that made it even easier.
For a day with no plan we were busy enough. The snapping turtle was a neat find.
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