Of course he did it anyway.
We were at Spring Grove Cemetery looking for turtles in the ponds. We hit the jackpot when several swam up to us. Others must have preceded us on our turtle hunt; the turtles seemed like they were expecting us in food and swam towards us eagerly.
“He bit me,” Max squealed. “He loves me!”The skin wasn’t broken but there were two lines on his finger. We left because the geese were starting to descend on us.
I can’t pinpoint when Max and Calvin became obsessed with turtles and tortoises but it’s lasted about five months. They have a special tortoise voice that they use when they play. They have tortoise tea parties. I was thrilled to come home and find they played turtle school with their babysitter Colette. She even made them turtle worksheets. They kept talking about Mrs. C – and I finally figured they were talking about Colette. Mrs. C is her turtle school name.
They really want a tortoise/turtle for a pet but I’ve read they can carry diseases; I also don’t want to take care of anything else. I will let them indulge their interest by watching funny videos on YouTube. Did you know turtles will chase a house cat, nipping at their feet? It’s their way of showing affection – I think our Henry would faint.
Here’s what you do when your mama won’t let you get a turtle. You make your own terrarium.
I took advantage of the tortoise rage at my house and hit the library:
Max reading about tortoises.
We like:
One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Jane Chapman.
National Geographic Kids Turtles by Laura Marsh.
National Geographic Kids Mission Sea Turtle Rescue by Karen Romano Young and Daniel Raven-Ellison.
National Geographic Kids Sea Turtles by Laura Marsh.
We celebrated all things turtle on their eighth birthday. (Hard to believe they are this old!) Here’s their birthday cake:
I’ll have to remind Max that he once made a card in preschool that said I was special, “because my mama saved a turtle in the road.” My friend Annette and I were walking – in Spring Grove – and diverted a little guy back back to his pond.
Ah, turtles.
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