Lizards

Florida has a lot of lizards.  My kids love lizards.

When Trey is upset, we'll call him over to the window to look at the lizards.  At any given time, we're likely to see 1 or 2 wandering around on the ledge.

Both of my kids like to catch the lizards.  Trey often succeeds only halfway (the tail half).  Funny how those little guys can detach their tail when presented with a dangerous situation.  Cosi fares a bit better.  Her problem is squeezing the lizards in excitement.   

Normally, I'm okay with all the lizard action.  Yesterday, I was not.

It all started when I (April) tried to get both the kids into the car.  As I was strapping Trey into his carseat, I saw Cosi dilly-dallying on the other side of the car.  I kept telling her to open the door of the car and get in.  Finally, she obeyed.  As she got in, I heard her saying "Oh - you're so cute.  I love you.  I'm so gentle."  I looked up to see her carefully cradling something in her hand, while stroking it (ever so softly) with the fingers of her opposite hand.

Yup - you guessed it.  She was holding a lizard, but this one was very dead.  It's body was partly dried out, enough that the guts sticking out the side of it's squished torso weren't all gooey.

After some minor freak-out on my part, lots of hand scrubbing, and a lesson on not picking up dead animals - we were back in the car and on our way!

More lizard stories to come...