Three Kids, Two Toads, One Wagon

Tonight I wanted to take the kids outside after dinner.  Recently I was looking at our calendar with pictures from last year and noticed the wagon in one of the pictures, and I thought about how we don't use it very often.  So I decided to use it tonight and take all the kids on a wagon ride.  When Joshua saw that's what we were doing, he asked, "Are we bringing treats?  Like cookie treats?" I realized he was remember from last December when we used the wagon to deliver Christmas cookies to our neighbors.

One cute thing about Joshua is he has sometimes struggled to differentiate the effects of stimuli to his senses, such as between a bright light and a loud noise.  You can see that here, as the camera flash was really bright, and his first instinct was to plug his ears.

While we were on our walk, I noticed a toad.  I picked him up, and as toads tend to do in self defense, he peed everywhere.  But because I did not pick up the toad in my mouth as most of his predators would (I guess I'm thankful I didn't pretend to be a dog), his attack had no effect other than to create a large wet spot on the concrete.  Joshua thought this was hilarious.  I offered to let the kids pet him, and Hannah was indifferent, Clara was a little concerned (look at her concerned face in the first picture before she later decided it might not be so scary), and Joshua was excited though a bit hesitant.  After they petted him, I put him down to hop away, but then noticed a second toad.  Clara asked to pet him, so I picked him up but this time forgot about the peeing thing, and his urinary attack splashed a little on Clara's finger, which became a big news item and something they immediately and excitedly reported to Meghan as soon as we walked in the door when we got back home.