Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bugs

We pulled a special babysitting day with just Zoey last Friday.  The kids had been taking the girls up to Seattle every morning the past week.  Mackenzie was involved in a gymnastics camp at U-Dub (that’s University of Washington) and she needed to be up there by 8:30 am everyday.  They had to leave the house by 7:00 am and didn’t get back until after 6:00 pm.  By Thursday evening Zoey was tired of the whole thing and begged to stay home with Grandma and Papa.  OK, we said yes.

Bruce and I still wanted to get our exercise done Friday morning, and we we set the alarm for 5:00 am and were out the door for a 1-hour walk before 5:20.   Zoey arrived on our doorstep at 6:50.   The morning went well and after showers and all of that stuff, we went off to McDonald’s for breakfast.   It is easy to take one of the girls with us and still be able to have our breakfast and enjoy reading the newspaper, but we’ve given up on taking the both of them.  All sorts of pandemonium seems to break out and things get spilled and there is NO paper reading with them around.  One is do-able, two is not.

Zoey decided it was too boring at our house and wanted us to go to her house for the rest of the day.  Fine by me since there are way more things there to keep a 5 1/2 year old busy!  Zoey and I jumped on the trampoline for a long time.  Actually, it is quite fun and more exercise for me too.

We got tired of that and then I remembered the Bug Keepers I’d bought the girls at the Dollar Store last month.  I asked Zoey if she wanted to go bug hunting and she eagerly agreed.  We took her keeper out in the front yard and began to search for some bugs. 

                                             We peeked under the flower bed bricks to see if we could find anything crawly.DSCF5892  

We found one tiny little spider, but I wasn’t really interested in catching a spider of any kind.  We kept looking under more of the bricks. 

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Where are the bugs these days?  We never saw a roly-poly bug or a caterpillar or anything.  I remember when I was a kid we could always find bugs outdoors.  We had a lantana shrub and it was always filled with these little butterfly or moth type things on the yellow flowers.  We could always catch a few of those if we wanted. 

                                            We even looked up in the leaves to see if anything was hiding there.  Nope.DSCF5894
Zoey wasn’t one to give up easily, so we kept searching.  She filled her little Bug Keeper with some fresh leaves and a few twigs and dandelions just in case we finally found something.  And Grandma kept turning over the bricks to see if we could possibly find anything at all.


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We gave up looking in this area and went over to the flower bed near the front of the house.  Stephanie had planted some small annual flowers and we looked around there.  Finally!!!  We found something.  There was a small grasshopper sitting on one of the leaves there.  I put the opening of the keeper over him and he hopped inside.  Quickly I closed the little door and he was trapped.

                                            Here’s the little feller now.  Look way in the back of the keeper.DSCF5902
It was a good day with Zoey.  Mackenzie got home and was all excited about completing her week of camp at the university.  Starting tomorrow morning, our vacation is over and we are back on the fulltime babysitting job.  Monday thru Friday until the end of August.  On September 7th we head for Pismo Beach, California….alone!

At church this morning, the pastor gave a sermon based on the 23rd Psalm.  In part, it reads:

“The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.” 

After the service Bruce was talking to a friend and the guy asked when we were leaving again.  Bruce told him we’d be leaving on September 7th.  The guy asked where we were going and Bruce said, “we are going to go and find those green pastures and quiet waters so our souls can be restored.”  Bruce also told him we wanted to spend September and October listening to nothing but the sound of the ocean and the wind blowing ashore off the Pacific.  The guy shook his head knowingly and smiled.

Until next time…..so long for now! 

16 comments:

Cindy said...

Aww Margie I feel so sorry for Zoey..and the lack of bugs there..so give me your address and I will mail you a box of critters..I mean adorable bugs for Zoey to be afraid of ..I mean play with..lol

Hugs..Cindy and Walker

Along the Way with JnK said...

"Sound of the ocean and the wind blowing ashore off the Pacific".

Exactly what we are missing and counting the weeks until we head in that direction.

Five more weeks, or 35 more days...

Karen and Al said...

:)

Lin said...

Bugs ARE hard to find now with all those pesticides and such. I remember big fat yellow fuzzy caterpillars everywhere when we were kids, it's sad we don't see them anymore.

Dennis and Donna said...

I have to say this...you have some beautiful hair there, girlfriend...I LOVE the color...I had to tell you...I have been envious of the white forever...
As for the 23rd psalm...We could adjust and rewrite it for full-timers with grandchildren, couldn't we..We aren't fulltimers..but I feel your need for peace and solitude...

Rick said...

Margie, your blog today really "bugs" me!! Sorry, just had to say that.

I think Bruce said it well to his friend, sounds like you are both looking forward to September!

Gypsy said...

I know exactly how you feel, as my soul is in need of some restoring by now. It's ironic but after a few months we will probably all need some "kid restorative" as well.

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

This sounds like the story of the wrong place at the wrong time-for the grasshopper :)

Carol K said...

Bruce, you are the hero of today's blog. You listened carefully to the sermon, internalized it, and then related it while talking with your friend. Well done, Bruce and Margie. You two are a great team--one to hunt for the bugs and one to take the pictures!

Sam&Donna Weibel said...

Hope you enjoy listening to the ocean and wind, Zoey will get another chance at the bug's if I know grandma. Maybe the heat hassomething to do with it, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Sue and Doug said...

another great day with your precious grand daughter!!..bug huntng!!!..how fun is that!
in acutal fact I think the girls are "restoring your soul"!

Jerry and Suzy said...

Hang in there, Margie! It's only a short time to the end of August and the 7th of September. As you travel (after your quiet time on the beach), we'd love to welcome you back to Benson, AZ -- if you come this way again.

Kathy said...

There's nothing more restful than the sound of the ocean. HE restoreth MY soul every time I'm there. Guess that's partially why He made it huh!
Wonderful post and I DO hope to meet y'all someday! Blessings, K

Kathy said...

I meant Live Writer not Life Writer although both seem appropriate.

Phyllis said...

Reading your post today reminded me of my brother when he was about 2 or 3. We had large Catawba trees in the side yard. Catawba trees get those long hanging pods that look quite interesting.

What is not so interesting is that some years the trees became full of fuzzy, green and yellow caterpillers that would drop to the ground.

Well my brother must have LOVED the taste of those critters. He could not be left outside as he would run to those trees and before Mom could catch him, he would gobble up a mouthful.

So, did I gross anybody out? Hey, he grew to 6'4" and about 260 pounds. It did him no harm that we've noticed.

Happytrails said...

I remeber bug hunting and howfun it was. Glad you and Bruce were able to help Zoey have a great day and get that cricket.
I can truly understand Bruce's comment "Sound of the ocean and the wind blowing ashore off the Pacific". We are not near the pacific, but I told Gerri yesterday I just want to go somwhere and just sit and do nothing but enjoy the surroundings and have some peace. I think it has something to do with parenting that so drains your mortal soul sometimes.