A Splash of April

April has included all kinds of weather

as well as all kinds of fun.  Here's a

sampling from the Loyd place.

In an after-Easter egg hunt, Bri removes
her boots before enjoying the "booty"
from Grandma's Easter eggs.  Hunter is
already snacking.

And our snack reminds us that the birds need to eat,
too.  Filling the feeders is a frequent task when the
children are here.

Hunter is very methodical.  He learned from the best
(Hint: not me).

Both Claire and Bri enjoy scooting
round and round our little house on
this yard sale bike.

Evan gives fair warning-- he's about
to blast our ears!

Hunter and Evan love to slide cassette tapes into
the player in my '73 Mercury station wagon.  It
doesn't matter that the battery's dead.  This car is
a favorite play spot and transports us to the beach,
the store, or even Santa's house.

Evan's ready to deliver a smack.  We're all about
hand-eye coordination around here.  Note the jackets
in some of these pictures.  April weather, like March,
was unpredictable.

BOOM!  Choka-loka

When we send our patriotic Claire and
Evan home, we're also saying goodbye to
Batman and Spiderman (two other superheroes).

We've got some new wind-up floating toys for the
stream and waterfalls.  Evan's about to let one fly.

But don't worry.  He'll use one of our yard-sale
lacrosse nets to retrieve it at the next bridge.

We're also working on fishing skills (of which I
possess NONE).  Evan and Claire catch on quickly.

Reeling it in means letting it slide down the pole.
Much safer than fishing with hooks!

Claire also loved this activity, but as you'll see in
a video in an upcoming video-only blog, she got
a much bigger kick out of making splashes, rain
showers, and fountains with her pole.

Evan and Grandma cool off by probing the sandy
bottom of the stream with their hands.  NO FEAR!

Here goes Turtle, plunging over the biggest waterfall.

Here he joins his friends Shark and Manatee in the
whirlpool until the kids rescue them.  And start all
over again.

Hunter tries another approach.  He's using a hockey
stick to snag one of these ring-shaped frisbees.  Not
as easy as it looks, but he did it.

We also celebrated two birthdays in April: Judy and
Brianna.  You'd have to be a super code-breaker to
decipher their ages on the cake (spoiler alert: the cake's
upside down).  Notice Hunter is poised to help with
the extinguishing of candles.

Bri is glowing with joy as a new four-year
old should be.  And she's also inviting you
to stay tuned for the next two blog posts.
I hope you will!

Ken the Snake Man Bows in Homage to Judy the Snake Lady

Ever since my Camp Cherokee years starting 

in 1972, I've been known as Snake Man by

some.  I've handled hundreds of snakes at camp,

at school, at home, or anywhere folks asked me

to "assist with removal."  But I have to bow down

to Judy after the record of the past week.

Just a week ago, Judy and I were at our stream.

She spotted a Southern Water Snake like this one.

We both studied it closely, fearing it might be a

water moccasin, since this is a place we frequent

with the grandchildren.  But as it swam away I got

a good look at all its features and positively identified

it on the internet.  Score one for Judy.

A day or two later, we were loading the car

for a day trip to the Eno River.  As I walked

from the car back to the house, I observed

that Kitty Cat had deposited one of his latest

"love offerings" (dead, of course) in the little

hole in the yard where he "nests."  It was a 

small red-bellied snake, a harmless garden visitor.

He's certainly harmless now.

While hiking on a hillside along Pea Creek,

a tributary to the Eno River, Judy spied this

Black Rat Snake.  I got one photo before it

disappeared down a hole under nearby rocks.

That's why there's no closeup.  Black Rat Snakes

are my favorite, as my former students and

regular readers know.  They're friendly and put on

a good show (that's easy for long, sleek constrictors).

We hadn't gone far when Judy sighted

this most excellent of snakes, a KING SNAKE!

I haven't seen one in the wild since I was a 

beginning teacher and saw one on a roadside

near Farm Life School.  They fearlessly devour

other snakes, with the poisonous ones being

their favorite.  There's no downside to having

them around. Unless you're prone to heart failure.

What a beautiful specimen!  And quite

willing to wait for me to snap pictures.

He was still resting in this position when

we continued our trek.  That was the end

of our snake sightings that day.

This morning, Judy was brushing her teeth

before heading off to church.  I was glancing

at the newspaper when she came in and said

"There's something you need to see in the

bathroom."  Well, to cut to the chase, she 

showed me and I said, "Go ahead and brush

your teeth while I go get the camera."

 She did, and I did, and here's the result.

Yes, Judy has nerves of steel.  Out of the

five snakes we encountered in this one week,

she was first to see four.  The dead one was

the only one I could claim.

All Hail to You, Snake Lady!

Oh, okay, I'll do something with it, ma'am.

Just let me get a couple of more pictures.

If the grandkids were coming tomorrow I'd

catch it to show them.  But it needs to eat.

"Click."  Just one more picture.  Oh, that's

a good one.  What a cute fellow.

Oops.  I think I waited too long.  He seems

to have retreated into the hole in the wall

from whence he emerged.  Uh, don't worry

Snake Lady.  I promised to permanently block

up the point of entry.  And after Judy left for

church that's exactly what I did.  I stuffed some

foam into the slender space between the wall

and medicine cabinet.  Then I sealed it with

duct tape (Yay, duct tape!)

Now go catch a mouse little snake.  And

ma'am you don't have to worry about that

snake coming in that way again.  Next time

he'll probably just use the front door!

From Nature Trail to the Playground

Both days that we took the grandchildren to

the nature trail, we followed it with a visit to

Farm Life's neat playground.  Some of the 

equipment is three decades old, but some cool

new stuff has been added recently.

Watch that curve!

Hunter's never far behind.

It's hard for me and Grandma not to offer
a helping hand, but these children would
rather do it alone.

If anybody can make a playground look like Air
Force basic training, it's Hunter.  Daddy should be proud.

And Bri says, "Me, too!"
But the bigger you are, the tighter the squeeze.
You won't catch me on that thing!

The kids love the giant fire truck.
When I taught, I encouraged the children
to make it a space ship, a pirate ship, an
airplane, or whatever their imagination led them to.

Somehow, we always came back to their
favorite, the slides.

Even better when there's room for two.

Upsy-daisy.

Whew, time for a breather!

The next day, Claire and Evan got their chance.

Evan is quite careful to avoid the tiny patch of water
on the slide.  Grandma had advised him to stay far
to the side, and he followed her advice to the letter.

Could anybody but Spiderman climb like this?!

YES!  BATMAN!

Don't worry, Evan's not being flushed away.  It's
just a top-down view of the slide.

This fire truck is a nice place to just hang out
with Grandma.  While waiting for photo-ops, of course.

Okay, everybody look solemn for the camera.

Hop on and Grandma will give you the
ride of your life.

Woo-hoo!  Clear the way!

I've gotta try that again!

Just keep calm, everyone.  Sliding is no big deal.

Hmm.  Is it really going to be worth it?

A natural climber, like her mother. And Grandma, too!
And great-Grandma, too (that's Granny/ Thelma)!

Evan's a pretty good climber, too.  Look at that form!

Hang on tight.  No seat belts!

You can take my picture.
There's no charge.

Claire's motto?  Never the same way twice.

Whew, let me check to make sure my hair's still there.

Okay, ready to slide again.

Blast Off!

More blogs are already in the works:

A day trip to the Eno River State Park

and

Cub Scouts get involved in the Nature Trail.

Stay tuned!