1st Lizard of the Season

We had to document the 1st Horny Toad of the season find. The warm weather finally arrived and the lizards came out. All the kids love the hunt and then they adore the lizards.

We kept this one for just one day before we returned him to his home. We have the hope that they will stick around for many more years.

I love the fact that my kids have the opportunity to live in a place where they can hunt lizards and see deer and jack rabbits and explore fields and nearby rocky ledges. I loved doing the same sort of things as a kid. When I lived in Hawaii we had a jungle right across the street. There was beautiful vegetation of all kinds to be found. Whenever we were hungry we went searching for guavas of many varieties, sugar cane, or passion fruit. We would go down to the pond and hunt for crayfish or polliwogs. We also made miniature homes for the many baby frogs we found. There were lots of toads that we thought were cool but I am a firm believer that they do cause warts. When we moved back to Utah I had no less than 50 warts all over my body. Little did I know . .

We would make boats out of lilikoi and float them down the stream. We would sometimes hike to a nearby waterfall to have picnics or hang out in our tree house in the middle of the jungle. We would roller skate to Mr. Miyamoto's Store to buy penny candy and lemon peel. We rode our bikes to the top of a gigantic hill to the water tower and then had no fear going down the hill as fast as we could until we crashed into the bushes at the bottom. We would explore lava creations and find teardrops on bushes and turn them into beautiful necklaces. Wow, I had forgotten many of the wonderful things we did there. We were so lucky to have so many options at our fingertips. With just a little imagination we experienced so much. I just hope that my kids have some of the same opportunities to explore and use their imagination.