outdoor art and a picnic

Monday morning, national holiday, down to the final pages in our school books... we had time to kill :)

A friend invited us to come to her complex for an outdoor art project and picnic.  It took me about seven seconds to say YES.

These two stayed engaged for longer than I thought they might... then they headed off to catch frogs :)

Lydia did a great job!  Her second piece was really fun - a wild random squiggle that she turned into a sandwich.  I should have taken a picture - it was really creative.

And Isaac.   Swords.  Of course.

Friends and food and paint drying on art projects.  {you can't see the mosquitos feasting on all that young skin, so the picture is practically perfect!}

After the art and lunch the mommas got talking and the kids ran and explored.  More frogs were caught and Isaac convinced me we needed to bring at least one home (because, you know, not enough baby frogs here... ha!)  So we snagged an empty plastic bottle and Isaac packed up his frog - and we went to speech (for John Paul).  The day was hot and Isaac left that frog in his plastic bottle, tucked in the seat back pocket in our van while we were at speech.

When we got back in the van after speech (poor frog was probably only steaming in the van for about 45 minutes) I realize what had happened.  "Ack, Isaac, your frog!  Is he dead?"  No such luck.  Frog is a survivor.  On to the next stop.. getting the van washed.  At this stop Isaac carefully took the frog with him when we unloaded the van and we wandered around the car wash place while waiting for them to finish with our van.

And that's the last I remembered even thinking about the frog until after dinner and half-way through bedtime when I sank wearily onto the couch to read to the big kids (little guys already in bed).  I opened the book and that frog popped right into my mind!  And for the second time that day I found myself saying, "Ack! Isaac, your frog!"

Well, lucky us (three of the four of us already in pjs, and me wishing I was in pjs too!).... Matt had just walked in the door and we quickly explained the frog situation and concluded he was surely dead and Matt (unlucky guy... still in street clothes) was commissioned with the task of going to the parking garage and retrieving the water bottle and the frog and disposing of the entire thing properly.

but he wasn't there!  the best we can conclude Isaac left him at the car wash place.  But that frog was a survivor.  And that car wash is plenty damp and full of nice spots of standing water.  My guess is he's doing just fine :)  And I'm glad we're not in the pet business again.

{All our tadpoles grew legs and got froggy and we sent them back to their pond - except for the one that died, oops.  But now that I think of it we are raising silk worms that the girls brought home from science class so maybe we are still in the pet business?}