snails, slugs and the sort

Cody captured a renegade slug oozing along our kitchen counter the other night. He imprisoned it between two empty baby food jars, knowing how much it would delight Juniper and Olive the next morning.

No, we do not regularly hold animals against their will, even of the slug variety, simply to entertain our children. In fact, I always advocate for their speedy release. "Olive, that [insert insect of your choice here] doesn't want to be in our house! He wants to go back to his family!" Not entirely noble - I admit, there's not much love lost between bugs and I. But the girls do seem to have a special affinity for snails, slugs and worms - perhaps a little too special. There have been some experiments on them in our backyard that would horrify PETA. Junie's subsequent essay documented the disproving of the neighbor girl's theory that if you peeled snails' shells off, they would turn into worms. Yikes.

So I left the slug in the jar on the counter. The next day I discovered a love note, courtesy of Junie, in the jar. But, alas, no slug. What was the fate of this unfortunate slug? Loved to death by Junie and Olive? I'm nervously anticipating a slimy encounter someday soon as I'm wiping down the counters.

Speaking of slimy encounters, our bike ride up to the grocery store on Monday was delayed a bit by the girls' discovery of a herd of snails making their way across the sidewalk. Do snails even travel in herds? Likely these snails were unrelated. Or at least had no qualms about devouring their traveling companions who were unfortunate enough to have been squished. This unnerving behavior didn't stop the girls from rounding them up into pile. Then, worried they wouldn't stick around until we returned from the store, they began removing them to the "safety" of our front steps. Junie lined them all up according to size. I kept Henry from picking them up and eating them.

And then, oh the snail carnage! Junie, suddenly off balance, stepped backward and crushed the entire lot of them.

As the objects of Junie's (at times somewhat aggressive) affections, I thank my lucky stars that Cody and I are not gastropods.

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Happenings of note:

- Summer vacation began for Junie! Less hectic mornings. More bike rides and trips to the park and library.
- Junie, Olive and Henry (with Mom) started swim lessons - enjoyed by all, except for the cold aftermath. The

   perfect excuse for hot cocoa in June.
- Henry is throwing temper tantrums in earnest, especially whenever I suggest he sign "please" for something.

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And some pictures from the week:

father and son bonding over broccoli