Christian the Lion

For those who haven't already heard this story, it will absolutely blow you away! See the video of a lion raised as a pet released back into the wild in the early 70s.

Bluegill Fishin'

Kieran, Mommy, and Daddy went fishin' this past weekend at the Shenandoah river in Northern Virginia. We were visiting a friend in Front Royal, and decided to throw our fishing rods in and try our luck. Kieran was really excited at the adventure, insisting on packing a rod over his shoulder and hiking with Daddy to find a good spot. We tried our luck in a little slough off the side of the river, and within a cast Daddy and Kieran landed a mighty bluegill. Joined shortly later by Mommy and our two friends Rod and Mercedes, we proceeded to "slay" the fish, landing fat bluegill and green sunfish on every other cast.

Kieran did a great job helping to land fish, holding the pole and turning the reel handle, as well as proudly lifting them out of the water. We caught several dozen sunfish, a little bullhead catfish, and three good sized small mouth bass! We took the big ones home to eat (this area is actually overpopulated, so thinning the fish out is a *good* thing biologically speaking).

The picture above is one of of the green sunfish we caught, a close relative to the bluegill with beautiful markings! Needless to say, both Mommy and Kieran caught the fishing bug (Daddy has it permanently), so this should bode well for other fishing trips in the future (inbetween our toading trips that is!)

I shot the following picture in the car after Kieran passed out. Clear indication of a little boy that had a good day! :)

Grandparents Visit

Kieran's grandparents on Maranda's side came to visit this past week and Kieran had a lot of fun! He played a lot of games with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Kathy, as well as entertaining them with stories, dancing, and various other forms of silliness. There were lots of adventures as well, with the Kieran going to the Air & Space museum with them one day, and James Madison's house in Montpelier another. Kieran's favorite part of the Montpelier trip was not the "man's house" as he called it, but the walking trail called Turkey Run. He spent the first half watching for running turkey's (thanks to Dad!), and the 2nd half getting drenched by rain as Grandma, Daddy, and Kieran tried to find their way back to the museum in a downpour! Kieran proudly recounts how brave he was on his adventure.

His a picture of Kieran and the grandparents at Five Guys burger restaurant, I have never seen two pounds of french fries disappear so fast!

Toading

So the other night there was a massive thunder storm that swept through northern Virginia, with close to hurricane strength winds! Kieran and Mommy watched in awe as lighting lit up the afternoon sky and dark thunder clouds dumped half a foot of rain or more in a couple hours! Daddy talked to Mommy and Kieran on the cell phone, as the home power was out for a couple hours, it was quite an adventure!

When Daddy got home that evening, another storm had just swept through, and the doppler radar showed things would be clearing up as we headed into dusk. So Kieran and Daddy did the only sensible thing any redneck family would do in a similar situation, we went frogging! Toading to be more exact, we droved up a country road and into the forest near our home, and then the adventure began! Invigorated by the fresh rainfall and warm temperatures, literally hundreds of tree frogs, pond frogs, and toads were in full chorus. Some were on the edge of the road, enjoying the warmer temperatures of the road still warm from the day. Daddy was the spotter, and when a toad sized amphibian was spotted alongside the road, we threw the emergency lights on and leaped out into the still lightly falling rain. Armed with a flashlight and a five gallon bucket, we would quickly survey the situation and plan our attack. A typical approach was Kieran taking the road, with Dad sweeping into the ditch to cut off escape points. Kieran would pinpoint the amphibian with a flashlight, and after a brief bit of conferencing, we would mutually decided if it was a toad (there was occasional disagreement, but we were able to work through it).

Kieran was the master toad catcher. As toads rely on their unpleasant taste as their main defense, they often squat patiently for a toddler to snatch them up. These toads were feeling frisky though, and Kieran had to perform several stunning maneuvers to grapple them into the bucket. Daddy did stop a couple get aways, but Kieran officially caught two toads outright, out of our final total of five toads for the night!

Okay, so about now you might be wondering...why in the heck would anyone want to catch toads? Well, our large garden is full of pesky slugs, beetles, crickets, and other insects that like to dine on our young vegetable plants and flowers. Toads have a voracious appetite and are a great, chemical free way to reduce the pests in your garden! After showing mommy our evenings catch (of course Kieran had to hold each one up for her to see), we all walked down in the garden and carefully released them. Safe inside the fence from our dogs, the toads are faced with a vast array of dinner options, and pretty much zero risk of being flattened by a passing car! Now if only we can convince that garter snake that we saw eating a toad in our garden to leave our new comers alone!!!