Morning in the Back Yard

Todd had tennis this morning while the kids and I were planning on driving out to Whole Foods to find special ingredients for a gluten free cheesecake to make for Grandma Suzanney.  But I got a call for work and spent the next hour on the phone between India, Brazil and a handful of our work centers as I tried to sort out troubles.  Thankfully, the kids played so nicely and didn't even notice my absence as I watched them through my office windows.

The kids had cleaned out the art cabinets and re-organized them earlier in the morning.  They raided them again for containers that would double as bug habitats.  Owen filled his with grass and twigs.

The grass, twigs and bug habitat were fascinating.  He couldn't pull his gaze away from them when walking to me or answering my questions.  Can you see Chloe decked out in her Mardi Gras beads that Todd brought back from his trip to New Orleans earlier in the week?

Dylan stayed close to the kids and was very curious about what they were getting into.

I love the pink in these flowers.  They don't bloom for very long, but I'm glad I caught them this year.

Owen thought he found a little caterpillar, but I'm fairly certain this was a little millipede.  Blech!

This was the last morning Cliff was under the hose box.  We tried to pick him up and hold him, but he wriggled out of our holds and escaped across the backyard quicker than we have seen any frog hop.

Next is a lesson in manual camera settings.  I didn't change them from the previous backyard pics.  Pretty dark, huh?  Although this is about as dark as it appeared to us looking into the shade from the cypress trees where Cliff was hiding after his hopping sprinting escape.

Then I increased my ISO setting and.....Voila!  The camera caught him sitting quietly out of our reach.  This was the last morning we saw Cliff in our backyard.  :(

Critters

The pest control guy came by this afternoon.  Before he could come into the backyard, I had to clear out a big pile of branches I had cut off the willow and butterfly bush earlier in the week before our gate could swing open.  When I removed all the branches, I noticed this guy.

While the backyard was being sprayed, I stayed inside to make sure no one tried to escape.  Henry was too tired to move from his spot on the sofa.

Maggie followed me around like a lost soul, but she refused to make eye contact with me or my camera.

Dylan pretended to sleep.  He would open his eyes and quickly shut them again after seeing I was watching him.

Look at how bumpy his skin is!  And the bright golden orange specks in his eyes!  I think some beads may be inspired by this bright coloring in his eyes.

After the kids got home from school and saw this frog, they wanted to name him.  Chloe first suggested we name the frog --> Dora.  Owen yelled NOOOOOOOOOOO and thought for awhile, before offering up Cliff. 

Cliff the Frog is bigger than my two fists combined.  I tried picking him up with one hand while taking pics with the other, but he was too big and wiggly to hold onto.  Subsequent two handed attempts were not any more successful.  Cliff ended up hopping across the backyard in his escape and hid under our cypress trees.  By morning, he was gone.