Never a Dull Moment

I wandered into the back yard the other day and caught Sawyer jumping up from where he had been laying in the dirt.  He ran over to me and Fischer promptly took his place.  "What are you up to?" I asked.  

"Oh, we are just laying in the dirt with our eyes open and our tongues hanging out of our mouths, trying to attract a turkey vulture."

"Oh," I said, as if it was a perfectly normal pastime.  I looked up, and sure enough, there was a vulture...circling.  

"And what will you do if one lands on you?"  I looked at Fischer laying on the ground.  Bait.

"If it lands on Fischer, I'm going to jump on it and hug it."

"Huh, interesting.  Then what?"

That's where their scheme fell apart.  After hugging the bird (he's really into birds lately), the plan was pretty sketchy.  I was, however, impressed with the teamwork they were applying and the forethought that had gone into it up to that point.  It wasn't much, but it seemed like an improvement from the time they were going to dig an ocean and keep sea creatures in the backyard.  So I left them to it.  

The turkey vulture didn't fall for it.  I know you were probably wondering how it turned out.  Once it flew off, the boys turned their attention to the chickens.  The poor things get loved to death.  They put up with the boys' affection because they also get treated to lots of worms.  Unfortunately, the boys have become increasingly curious about the flavor of the worms.  They asked me to cook some up for them to try and were met with a hard no!  But the curiosity remains.  Sawyer dangled one in his mouth yesterday.  Fischer did the same.  Today, they confessed that they touched it with their teeth but didn't bite down.  It's just a matter of time.  Worms.  I can't get them to eat a cucumber, but they are going to go ahead and eat worms.  I'm not sure what that says about my cooking.  I feed them, I swear.

I think they are taking My Side of the Mountain and the Bear Grylls survival books a little too much to heart.  They are all about eating wild flowers and starting fires with stones.  And also magnifying glasses.  Thanks for that Grandpa Phil!  Our firecentric pyromaniac four-year-old now knows it's possible to start a fire with sunlight and a magnifying glass. He may not have the attention to sit through a fifteen minute cartoon, but you better believe he will follow the path of the sun all day trying to get that moss smoking.  But don't worry, his big brother let me know they have a hose and shovel with dirt at the ready.  

Yeah, I was impressed too. 

*Note: All matches, lighters, magnifying glasses, and clear glass drinking vessels are now safely out of reach.