The weekend before we went to the Renaissance Festival. Trinity had her first pony ride.

We continue to be amazed at the abundance of wildlife we encounter all the time. I tend to take the backroads/dirt roads whenever possible so we sometimes feel like the stars of Wild America or something. Just down the road from us is a marshland preserve. When we drive through that area we often see cranes. The other day there was a huge flock of birds. They were on the telephone lines, in the fields and even on the road. When we drove through, we were surrounded by birds flying up and all around us - really cool.

Trinity seems to be in love with all God's creatures - frogs, snakes, and insects included. Everything she comes in contact with she wants to pet it. In cleaning our boxes out of the garage, I came across a nest of baby mice. (still young enough that their eyes weren't open yet) Trinity asked her usual request - "I want to hold it." So I let her have one to carry around. The others we left under the big tree in the side yard so "mommy mouse can come get her babies." (i.e. the cats next door will discover an appetizer to go with their meal) The whole day Trinity took that mouse with her everywhere she went. Unfortunately, she lost the mouse at one point. We searched frantically because I just knew if we didn't find it, Angelina most certainly would and it would go straight into her mouth! We couldn't find the mouse, but Angelina did turn up with it - she had stepped on it and squished it between her toes first. Ewwww! Trinity of course wanted a replacement mouse, but wouldn't you know, mommy mouse had come and taken away all the other mice during the day. ;) Hope that doesn't bother anybody, but that is life in the country. Mice are food for cats, snakes or hawks out here. I certainly don't want them moving in with my family!

Grace and peace be with you!