Snakes, and Frogs, and Turtles - Oh My!

Last Thursday was free day at the Trinity River Audubon Center so we decided to check it out. It was so much fun.  Evidently the area used to be an unofficial dumping ground and the land was pretty polluted so Dallas city decided to clean it up and create an educational center and nature preserve.  They buried the trash under hill, planted indigenous vegetation, built some hiking trails and a cool visitors center- which I was told looks like a giant bird from the aerial view.  

They had nature/craft supplies out and my ever "projecty" kids went right to work.  Now we have an acorn mouse, bunny, bear and squirrel

on our fireplace mantle. Of course, Ben rushed over to observe the animals before he was done, so Rusty finished up for him.  They had a snake, turtle, some lizards and a few birds that are found in this area on display. They even let us watch them feed the snake a pinkie (which is a baby mouse)- not my idea of fun, but Ben thought it was "so cool."

After spending time enjoying the exhibits and exploring the grounds one of the workers took us on a guided night hike down to the Trinity River, accompanied by the serenade of cricket frogs and whippoorwills. It was just beginning to storm so we were cut short, but the drive home was accompanied by spectacular "fireworks" provided by God.

  

Friday we attended the Ellis County Homeschool Expo where we found a used math book for Lauren- she's only 10 lessons away from finishing Saxon 3 and was so happy I got her the next one - (Ha, Ha, Ha - I wonder how long it will take for her to decide new math books aren't a joy and privilege.)  While we were there we met a couple of boys who were showing off their snakes and turtles.  Dallin was astonished when they informed him that all of the critters were caught locally by the boys themselves.  Dallin has always wanted a turtle, so he came home motivated and began some serious research on where and how to catch a red-eared turtle. 

We spent Saturday afternoon at Waxahachie Lake and nearby ponds searching for a good turtle catching location. All we came home with was a beautiful butterfly Lauren rescued from the water. She released it once the wings were dried out and it could fly.

Sunday we attended our own ward at 9am and we were on time!!  It was great and I really like the people here.  When we came home the kids found a snake in our "backyard" and they

determined it was a Rough Earth Snake, quite common to the area and fortunately non-venomous. Ben begged me to go buy a pinky to feed him, but luckily it was the Sabbath and I told him we couldn't shop. :)  In fact, we even convinced the kids to let him go! Phew! I'm a big fan of catch and release.