It starting raining pretty steadily while we were driving this evening. We were on a back road and on a blind turn I had to slam on the breaks. There was a man standing in the middle of the lane about ten yards behind his SUV. It took me a moment to realize what was going on, he had stopped to help a box turtle across the street.

The kids were very curious about this incident and started asking me all about turtles. I think they are fascinating animals, so I did my best to describe different kinds to them. But I warned them there are some turtles that can hurt them, so I didn’t want them to go near any turtle without me until I am sure they know what they are looking at.

I remember the first time I ever saw a snapping turtle. I was probably around 12 years old and I saw this huge turtle crossing the street in front of my house. As I got closer I noticed it wasn’t the normal box turtle, but rather it had spikes and looked aggressive. The turtle was huge, at least 12-15 inches in length. Eventually a neighbor came over with a broom, stuck the handle in front of the turtle’s mouth and I was surprised at how quickly the turtle snapped at the broomstick and latched on. From there the neighbor was able to pick up the broom (turtle attached) and walked if far away from any of the other houses.

This evening our discussion about turtles lasted a few minutes before we moved onto another subject. However on the way home, C told me that she thought it would be cool to train a snapping turtle to be a really good pet. She said she would train it to only snap at people that were trying to steal her or steal money. Otherwise, the turtle  would be nice and she would cuddle up with it every night in her bed. We discussed the pros and cons of such an idea, but in the end I think she changed her mind 😉

When I got home this evening I could tell that my kids were tired. After the third day of VBS, they are pretty much wiped out. We had plans, though, so I knew we had to get out the door pretty quickly. I made them dinner, and while it was cooking I looked down the stairs so see that Baby E had fallen asleep… on the wooden stairs. That couldn’t have been comfortable. He was in fine form when he woke up and never quite recovered his spirits this evening.

We had the chance to meet up with some of my friends from years ago this evening. We met at Rita’s and had italian ice and caught up with each others’ lives. I am grateful for the friendships that you can slide right back into even if you haven’t seen each other in years. This amazing couple has had such an impact on my life and they continue to do so. I am thankful for them and the way they live out their faith in a tangible way. They are truly a blessing and I am glad we got the chance to see each other before our move. 🙂