I thought I would faint when I learned Evan was responsible for
capturing a frog and sending it to school for the second annual second grade
frog races. Whereas last summer we had dozens of frogs EVERYWHERE, this year we
have spotted fewer than a dozen. The fact that I had to help find one for Evan
to take to school was bad. Couple this with a frog shortage, and we had a
really bad situation on our hands. For weeks, I have been totally dreading this
entire frog search process.
Sunday we decided to get a head start on our search. I had been outside fewer than two minutes, when I pulled back a cushion on the outdoor patio furniture and found a frog. A FROG! We boxed that thing up in a shoe box and felt mighty proud of our record time in Operation Frog Search and Capture. The next morning Evan decided he would open the shoebox and check on the well-being of his race winning frog. He opened the box and the frog was still. Absolutely still. He declared it dead, took it outside, and emptied the box in the yard. A few minutes later, he learned that frogs play dead. His race winning frog had hopped away to freedom, and Evan was in shock to learn he had been duped by an amphibian. There may have been a tear shed on this morning.
Monday we gave it another go. I couldn't believe our luck when I looked out the front window and found not one but two small tree frogs! Wes captured these beauties in our ever handy shoe box habitat and taped up the sides for safe keeping. On Tuesday morning Evan gingerly carried the box to the bus stop feeling confident that at least one of his little tree frogs would have the strength to cross the finish line first. When he arrived to school, he asked his teacher to be very careful when opening the box. These frogs were rowdy and could easily get away, he advised. Imagine their surprise to find the box empty! Imagine my surprise when I learned the box was empty! An empty shoebox could mean only one thing: two tree frogs are loose in my house. They have yet to be found.
Tuesday we gave it another try. It was our last chance before the big race on Wednesday. When I opened the backdoor to begin the, now nightly, frog search, one medium sized toad sat on the welcome mat. Just like that I, I mean Evan, had another frog. This one made it safely to school and found its way to the starting line of the Let's Get Hoppin' to Third Grade frog race without incident.
Sunday we decided to get a head start on our search. I had been outside fewer than two minutes, when I pulled back a cushion on the outdoor patio furniture and found a frog. A FROG! We boxed that thing up in a shoe box and felt mighty proud of our record time in Operation Frog Search and Capture. The next morning Evan decided he would open the shoebox and check on the well-being of his race winning frog. He opened the box and the frog was still. Absolutely still. He declared it dead, took it outside, and emptied the box in the yard. A few minutes later, he learned that frogs play dead. His race winning frog had hopped away to freedom, and Evan was in shock to learn he had been duped by an amphibian. There may have been a tear shed on this morning.
Monday we gave it another go. I couldn't believe our luck when I looked out the front window and found not one but two small tree frogs! Wes captured these beauties in our ever handy shoe box habitat and taped up the sides for safe keeping. On Tuesday morning Evan gingerly carried the box to the bus stop feeling confident that at least one of his little tree frogs would have the strength to cross the finish line first. When he arrived to school, he asked his teacher to be very careful when opening the box. These frogs were rowdy and could easily get away, he advised. Imagine their surprise to find the box empty! Imagine my surprise when I learned the box was empty! An empty shoebox could mean only one thing: two tree frogs are loose in my house. They have yet to be found.
Tuesday we gave it another try. It was our last chance before the big race on Wednesday. When I opened the backdoor to begin the, now nightly, frog search, one medium sized toad sat on the welcome mat. Just like that I, I mean Evan, had another frog. This one made it safely to school and found its way to the starting line of the Let's Get Hoppin' to Third Grade frog race without incident.
There's been no word on the winner. I imagine that with 110 frogs sitting on the starting line Evan, along with every other second grader, lost track of which was which. However, it was a really cute idea and lots of fun for the kids. I would feel even better about it if I could locate the frogs currently living in our house.
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