Bull Frogs and Garters...

Dani's post about "singin' and dancin' in the rain" brought to mind another funny memory. When Dani was little she LOVED to take walks in the rain. She would put on her little rubber Barney raincoat and rubber Barney boots and grab her little rubber Barney umbrella (wasn't 7th grade fun....jk).

One time on our walk after a very hard rainstorm (we were puddle jumping), she and I found an injured Bullfrog. It had a broken leg. We rescued it and put it in a fish aquarium which I put on the front porch on top of a picnic table. We called the local animal rescue shelter which said we could bring the frog in and they would rehabilitate him.

Anyway, the next morning we are getting ready for school and I can smell smoke. I am going all through the house and can't discover the source. I can't tell if it's the furnace or the water heater, so I decide I had better call the fire department. I was gathering up a few personal items and herding the kids out of the house when I noticed that a wedding garter, that my son had "caught" at my sister's wedding, which he had wrapped around the top of a lamp shade, had slipped off, fallen onto the light bulb and the melting elastic was causing the burning smell.

Well, I immediately called back the dispatcher but they said sorry, once the fire department was on their way, they had to come to the house. The firemen arrived and I was very embarrassed and apologetic. I showed them the garter and the lamp and they seemed satisfied. They left the house and we were all standing on the front porch. They were taking the opportunity to give the kids a public service announcement about fire safety when I noticed, directly behind the firemen, the bullfrog balancing precariously on the edge of the aquarium. From the top of the aquarium on the table to the floor below was about 4 feet. "Oh, great!", I thought. That frogs gonna commit suicide right in front of Danielle and FREAK HER OUT (Kyle would have probably thought it was cool..by the way, Dani was probably about 8 at the time, Kyle 11).

The firemen were turning to leave and I said, as long as you're here, would you mind putting that frog back in the aquarium (I was certainly not going to touch it...just getting it into the aquarium had been quite the obstacle). Well, they turned around and you should have seen them jump...I bet they went 2 feet in the air (please note that this was a HUGE bull frog...probably at least 5 - 6 inches across).

I wish you could have seen these brave fireman arguing on my front porch over which should push it in. "You do it!". "No, way, man...I ain't touchin' it!" The older fire fighter even pulled rank on the younger one. I think they finally found a stick or a broom handle or something and pushed him back in with that. What a display of bravery!

Another silly, but fun memory..........