As a favor to some friends I watched their 2 children, John and Sara. The girls were thrilled, of course, to have some guests to host. It was a nice day, so the kids set off to frolic outside. After about a half hour of playing the kids enthusiastically informed me that Lucy had terminated a chipmunk. I didn’t think much of it and told the kids to leave it alone figuring it was either one Lucy had caught or it had received its untimely death some other way. A few minutes later the kids screeched that another chipmunk had been executed, then a few seconds later another, and then another. At this point I decided I better check out what was going on. Sure enough there was a scattering of tiny carcasses in our backyard. However, upon further inspection I determined that the bodies were not of chipmunks but of baby bunnies. Their ears were still very short which must have made the kids think that they were chipmunks. Lucy was also found to be very busy digging at some bushes up against the back of our house. I got her to go inside, so I could investigate her digging spot. I found that there were still 2 more bunnies lodged between the house and electric meter. I managed to get them out and carried them by their scruffs to our little wooded area at the edge of our yard where Lucy is not allowed to go (where instead the coyotes are sure to find them). To say the least, the kids got a lesson in how nature sometimes really works. Sara was later reported as saying, “Where the bunnies were laying the grass changed color.” Those (living) bunnies sure were cute though.

Another wildlife adventure we got to experience this weekend was with a coyote. We were sitting on the patio in back when all of a sudden we heard a rustling in the woods and something hop out into the field. Mike knew right away that it was a coyote, and Lucy ran to the edge of our yard to let it know who was boss. What was freaky though is that the coyote just sat in the field staring Lucy down. It wasn’t until Mike came out with the pellet gun that it finally took off. A neighbor tells of a tale of another neighbor having its full-grown golden retriever dragged off and eaten by a pack of coyotes. No more midnight potty breaks for Lucy.

Probably too difficult to see, but here is a shot of the coyote working his way further back and onto the bike path.

I might as well post about our 4th of July festivities since the pictures are already uploaded. We were invited to the Morton’s home for dinner, and then we set off to watch the downtown Kenosha fireworks shoe. Dinner was a delicious assortment of Greek (tzatziki) and Chesapeake Bay (crab cakes) cuisine. We provided our favorite strawberry/greens from our garden/toasted almonds/vinaigrette salad and 4th of July cake.

The fireworks show was fabulous, and we had front row seats. There was a plastic fence keeping people from getting too close. Good thing it was there because we witnessed some fireworks sparks hitting the grass not more than 50 feet away in front of us.

We also brought over a watermelon. Annie insisted on holding it during the drive. Mimi can’t stand to not do everything Annie does and was quite upset during the drive.

All the kids with their glow sticks.

And the show begins. Just some random fireworks shots. ‘Twas fun playing with the fireworks feature on the point/shoot.

The kids watching. Notice Annie holding her hands over her ears.

And the finale. It turned out to just look like a big fireball in the pictures.

How was your 4th?

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