Hermit Crabs and Tadpoles

We have picked up a few pets--imagine me lying in the road with a spaghetti strainer taped to the broomstick, reaching through the cattle grate to catch tadpoles.  The cattle grate was FRICKING HOT having baked in the sun all morning so I got grill marks in addition to 18 new little lives to care for.  Ava was thrilled.  And then we got no rain for a while and the nasty water under the cattle grate dried up, so Ava knows we saved them from doom.  She dutifully fed them algae-covered weeds yanked from a very special part of our back yard until they started to sprout back legs.  And last week we got front legs, and then a FROG!  So predictable.  We had a special early morning release of the first frog and then she promptly lost interest in the whole venture, but it's not like I can just put them back.  Or flush them. 
(right?)

This weekend we had a wonderful sunset pitcher of beer at Oualie Beach, (see pic of Ava at Oualie) and as we were getting ready to leave, Ava and her buddy, Neal, found five tiny hermit crabs- which was perfect timing since Andy II had disappeared.  Now we have Andy III, IV, V etc.  They are so fun to watch in their crabitat as they LOVE trying on new shells.  It's like reality TV.  Even the cat is mesmerized.  (...maybe that is what happened to Andy II?) 

So I was hoping that all these little critters would distract Ava from the sad fact that we are goat-and sheepless right now.  A dog came in the yard and killed Gypsy and Pip (while we were in NC, thank goodness) so the yard is kind of empty.  And free of poop, which is nice.  We (Bob) may not be cut out to be goat/sheep owners; as they were full grown and still drinking milk from the bottle.  Bob never could figure out how to cut them off.  And he criticized me for taking too long to wean our DAUGHTER!!  Yeh, I am loving that.  Anyway, so today we had a riding lesson for Ava at the barn.  It's kind of a sad little barn that the owner doesn't want to own.  We find out that the owner of the horse Ava rode is leaving the island in December and wants to basically give the horse away.  Bob who is insane decides that the price is right!  And makes horse-buying sounds within hearing distance of Ava, like his brain just fell out of his head.  Oh, my fingers just locked up as I revisited his ...boyish enthusiasm, let's call it....locked up in the shape of his neck!

Erg, have to go and whisper into Ava's ear as she sleeps, "Why own a horse when you can just pay for the lessons?" over and over...