Easter Weekend

Yes, I realise Easter was a week ago. I feel that I should mention that at the moment I'm finishing up my first semester of Graduate school, so life is crazy busy. Plus, while this Easter holiday is filled with fun memories, it also holds a very sad one for us.

The sad news first. My rat Gus died. I of course knew it would happen. Death comes to us all, no? And I expected it. He's been losing weight and slowing down since December. But he lived to a ripe old age of 3-3.5 years. He's been with us since November 2011, and I like to think that I gave him a happy end to his life, with the love of me and Camden, and also the companionship of Robin. Saturday (the 7th) night I held him while I sat outside on my parents' porch swing and read. I snuggled with him Sunday morning, also. I knew he was close, but I didn't expect it. Not really. I went to town, and when I came home, he was gone. I buried him in my parents' orchard, which is close to the garden I've planted there. He's "just a rat" and I only knew him for a year and a half. But I loved him. And I miss him. He was such a snuggle bug. And now Robin is alone, which is terrible for him, I know. I'm giving him as much freedom and time with me and Camden as I can, since I can't bring myself to get another short-lived rattum to keep him company. Is that selfish of me? Probably.

And so I can end this post on a happier note: We did have a lot of fun at my parents the days we were there.

Saturday, Camden and I helped my dad get the garden in. He's trying a new thing this year: raised beds using stock tanks. He planted green beans and zucchinis in them, hoping it will be easier to harvest them. And since I'm fresh out of home-grown canned green beans, I say more power to him! And if it saves his and my mom's backs, even better.

Planting corn with my dad's fancy corn planter.

Planting a garden is hard work! Naps afterward are always nice.

We also went to Haha Tonka State Park. I was hoping to see the bats fly out of the cave at dusk, but unfortunately, I should have done my research first! Apparently the bats were still hibernating, and we saw nary a one. We did have fun picnicking at the cave, and walking a shortish (3/4 mile) nature trail with my mom, who never goes for that sort of thing because of her knees. Amazingly, we even got my dad to go with us, even though I think he would have rather stayed at home. (But I'm pretty sure he had fun, even if we didn't get to see any bats.)

A jack-in-the-pulpit. This is the only place I've ever seen one.

Me and Cam and Molly. I have zero idea what he's looking at. *cough*weirdo*cough*

Walking the trail. I cut through a grassy area to get ahead of them to take the picture. Camden got on to me for it :(

Dad jumped out from behind a tree and (tried to) scare us. We'd been hearing him making owl sounds since about halfway through the trail, so I wasn't that surprised. Funny story: He was making owl sounds to mess with us, and then an actual owl started answering him. I think he and Cam are listening for the owl in this picture.

The bat cave! The entrance is in a sink hole, so you have to walk down a bunch of stairs to get to it. They've posted three or so thermometers along the way so you can see how the temperature changes as you go down the steps. So nifty. We're going to try to catch the bats when we're back in the area in mid-May. Wish us luck!