we get lots of lizards lounging on the warm stucco of our house and outside retaining wall.
and we have lots of kids who have gotten pretty proficient at catching the suckers.
this time they caught two big ones-both missing tails due to the capture, but not loved any less for it.
we kept them for two days and then we had to have a talk with poor nate. he cried when he let them go. i know the poor kid needs a pet. but i cant handle anything less than a dog due to allergies and heebie jeebies. and i cant handle a dog either due to my wobbling sanity.
so for the moment, they have to create pets wherever they find them. be it lizards, snails, rolie polies, or each other.
thanks for the comments on the mini golf pictures. we were at Boomers. And, yes i was laying on the ground on my stomach for the shot of kenna pushing her ball. im not afraid to let my closet contortionist out to get the shot i want. have a good one guys.
oh-and we havent moved forward on the grass yet, but from photos we are pretty sure we want creeping red fescue. no prizes for the winners and no parting gifts for the losers though……just a big internet thank you for the help. :)
Love the lizard pictures. I live in So. Utah, and we have the lizards all over too. Especially this time of the year! But by kids aren’t great at catching them… as they are only 4, 2 and 1! I’m sure many tailess lizards will grace our house before I know it!
With two brothers of my own we practically lived in a zoo while I was growing up. So many creatures here and there… not much bothers me these days as long as they have legs… not really into snakes. I like the “catch and release” pet program you’ve got going.
My brother is a Landscape Architect here in So Cal and he says he uses the creeping red fescue all the time and loves it! I am sure you will be happy with it. It seems to be pretty easy to care for… that is my kind of garden!
those are great pics, as always. a good pet and very low maintenance is hermit crabs…seriously…a little bit of water, a little bit of food, a little scooping of the poop (which my 6 yr old does)…easy stuff!
Glad to know that we are not the “only” ones to not have a pet….my kids seem to think we are:).
xo-Christine
I LOVE lizards. I know, girls aren’t supposed to like lizards and things, but I do. I had a few lizards as pets when I was a kid. Most of the time they escaped from the cage. But I just went out and bought more. Lizards are just fun!
Have you seen the kid on David Letterman who hypnotizes the lizards and then dresses them up and poses them? As long as you have all those lizard-catchers working for you, you could probaby get some hilarious photos…
Here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=232NU8yQg30
~Tamara
I second the hermit crab suggestion, when my kids were small we got them 2, I still remember their names, Mike & Ike…lol!
But if u can handle it heebie-jeebie-wise, rats actually make wonderful pets…
wobbling sanity…I like that
:)
Like the wobbling sanity part…I hear ya!
Michelle
I have wobbling sanity as well
but I also have a menagerie of pets
hermit crabs, 2 cats, a dog & various fish
hermit crabs are fun, and they would love your climate
altho the girl who dresses the lizards was quite adorble!!
Like you I have four kids, allergies, and wobbling sanity on a day to day basis. I do not consider myself a dog person or even an animal person…I’m an indoor girl. :) BUT about two weeks ago we adopted a West Highland terrier. They have very low dander levels and are recommended for people with allergies and asthma. So far so good. Part of the deal with my kids was that I would never have to do poop duty. They’ve lived up to their end of the deal thus far and I hate to admit it but I actually like the little bugger. She’s very sweet. They are a great breed for families if you ever have a weak moment or a lapse in sanity as I like to call it. :)
I was referred to your new website by the fab Ms. Cathy Z. and just had to leave a comment and say how stunning your photography is! And of course, had to give a shout out to a fellow OC scrapbooker. :)
poor nate. fish. fish are good. betta in particular. can’t kill’em.
i love the mini-golf pictures. mckenna with the ball on her nose is too cute.
hope all is well
ria
Hi Tara,
Just wanted to throw this out there. I stood fast on no dog for a long time and finally gave in. We got a Cairn Terrier. (picture Toto, but ours is tan colored (wheaten). Hes 25 pounds, like a small furry piggy! Hes been my faithful foot warmer for five years now. The best part is he is a big dog in a little dog body! Great for a crowded house. He loves my girls and lets them dress him and abuse him daily. And the BEST PART… he doesn’t shed!!!!!! Yeah!
We had to let go of a poor Geko too, the other day, and my poor 12 year old bawled her eyes out! I was like.. Girlfriend, its been 5 days.. dont you think he needs to eat or drink? She said, sniffly.. I gave him some dead bugs the other day. Ohmy! I let him go when she was at school. And she cant complain, dangit.. WE have TWO cats. And her Dad and his wife have 3 AND a bird. drives me nuts…
Maybe Gracie can come for a visit. She is a great temporary pet :)
um, lizards kinda gross me out. I don’t know that I could touch them…
but the pictures are very cool!
We, too, are part of the no pet crowd. Recently, my daughter captured a ladybug in her bug house and brought it indoors as her new pet! She even named her Mimi. How pathetic…the poor child needs a pet. Maybe one day. Fun reading your blog.
Yep, we’re part of the West Highland White Terrier owner crowd too. Great pets! We’ve got 2 sisters. It’s true they are big dogs in little bodies…very rugged, and good guard (ok, alert) dogs. Love the mini golf pictures, of course I love all your work…just stunning!
love the contortionist confession. ;) you know…I’ve tried that, the laying down thing, cuz there’s another photographer that I admire that also gets cool shots that way. But my family takes off faster than I don’t know what when I do that – I’m left on the ground all yelling “HEY! Get back here!!” and stuff.
I’m stillworking on earning that respect.
:)
Keep on rockin! Your pictures come to mind a lot when I take my camera out. I try to get in Tara mode. Can’t hold a candle, but I try
I think fish might be just the ticket for your kids. I loved my goldfish…
A lot of people where I live don’t know what rolie polies are. I just couldn’t understand how someone could not know what a rolie polie is…
Nice pictures *as always*!!
Happy day!
I’m tagging you with the quirky secrets tag challenge (see my blog!)
i don’t mind little lizards,like geckos, but I cannot have them as pets!
boys after my own heart!
My DD spends hours in the backyard everyday catching lizards too!
We got a mini-schnauzer 1.5 years ago and I let [read: forced] my husband to do all the training, etc. It was “his dog” for that first grueling year of puppy-hood. Now I’m desperately in love with the dang dog and he has officially become “my dog.” Plus, the kids L-O-V-E him dearly. That first year was rough. But, oh so, so so, worth it.
OK..I live in Canada, grew up in Ireland and have travelled the world..what the heck is a Rolie Polie? Pics? … well if it does not have heebie geebie factors!
Great photos.
Sue
Wow, these images are great. The color is so rich. Some of them are like looking at a painting. I’m envious yet really appreciate your style.
I found you through my friend Karen Hochstedler’s blog. I also have a photo blog: http://cleverart.blogspot.com/
tara, why don’t you convince your neighbor to get a dog and have your kids take care of it part time? lol
Joyeux NSD!
Prolix
{ThE fReNcH tOuCh}
http://prolix.typepad.fr
all I can say is EWWW!
Boys are so curious and those poor things do not know where to hide from them. I like the second image, primarily because of a narrow DOF. Though i love the first one more. It renders the same idea as your title does (though it seems to me that it is a girl in the pic). A lizard is so small that a child looks as a huge monster who captured a reptile in prison.