Tadpoles??? What tadpoles!

Last year we let Holly participate in a wonderful local gardeners program that offers great children's programs, including learning about frogs & pond life. When you finish the little class you leave with a tadpole and care instructions, a small journal to track the changes, etc... It was fun! Even for the young child that she was then, she really did enjoy watching him daily and seeing the amazing changes that took place. She even loved hunting for bugs after our tadpole became a full fledged frog. We released him in a local park. Overall, it was a great experience.

Well, this year -- we had plans the same weekend of this particular class. We opted to hold out and instead HUNT for our own tadpole! Sounds like a great idea, right? This could offer Holly even a better understanding of where these little critters actually live. After all, Bryan & I clearly remember many tadpoles from our childhood. I personally remember spending hours at a local swampy waterway in Parkland seeking tadpoles and salamanders - bringing them home in containers and even adding them to our tank sometimes. Great memories!!!

We are having no luck - none, nada, zilch! Tadpoles just do not exist anymore (kidding of course)! We have spent upwards of a couple hours seeking out local waters to find our froggy friend, we've checked lakes, ponds, little stream sides, mucky water holes, more ponds, etc... with no sign of a frog. Granted we can lay in bed at night and hear what sounds like hudreds of frogs and laugh... because there are no tadpoles to be found anywhere. What's their secret?

Oh well, we have had some fun along the way! This is a great time of year to be out & about in the waters. We have seen many, many baby birds along the way! Tonight for instance we discovered a completely new trail system just a few minutes from our house - it is beautiful! We saw some really pretty slugs (seriously), a very cool snail with an amazing shell, Bryan saw a beaver in a local pond (we'll be heading back with better shoes soon to see for ourselves), we found great birds and fed the baby ducks... all in one night! Not bad for a family outing! We just left empty handed of tadpoles.