Three stories about squirrels

 1. One of the first days we were here, I took a few of the kids to the park. I think Luke was trying to go up the slide when other kids wanted to go down, so I tried to find something else to catch his attention. I saw a squirrel hanging out close to me and called out, "Luke! Come catch this squirrel!" I figured he would chase it and it would run away.

He smiled and said, "Okay!" Then he ran right over and grabbed the squirrel. I told him to let go, and he did. And that squirrel still didn't run away! It was so content to hang out with us and a few other girls who had noticed it. At one point it got really close to a little toddler, and she cried and cried until her sister picked her up and put her back in the stroller. Anyway, I learned that day that the squirrels are not as afraid of humans as they should be. (And I washed Luke's hands of course.)

2. When we went to the park this week, Joseph found a knobbly stick and pretended to be an old man chasing the squirrels. He chased one up a tree, and then he came over and said, "I think a squirrel just dropped an acorn on my head." I guess even the squirrels that are scared of humans aren't afraid of enacting a little revenge.

3. We brought a few French picture books with us that we got from dual immersion. And today I figured out how to scan the words into Google Translate and have them change before my very eyes. I sort of understood the gist of the story before, but now I really understand it!

Ironically, even though we've seen lots of squirrels, I haven't taken any pictures yet. But the kids are always excited to see them.

And pigeons and chipmunks too.