I swear…I tried to stop it from happening.  I did not want PETA paying me a house call but I think that they are definitely going to come after the events that occurred tonight.  The girls forced me to do it…its all their fault!  Please do not pick up your direct line and get me in trouble.  This can be our secret….right?

The day started off like any other day.  We made trip to the local watering hole (well the pool) so the girls could get their swim on.  That went well for the first fifteen minutes and then an announcement:

Attention members….Due to circumstances beyond our control, everyone will need to leave the pool immediately.  It will be closed for the next 30 or so minutes.  Thank you for your understanding.

Oh my!  What could it be???

Well it cannot be confirmed or denied but I am thinking that someone dropped a raisinettes in the pool.  Well to make things better, we went to the inside waterpark during that stretch so the girls could continue to swim.  Unfortunately, I think it was this that drove the girls to their behavior later in the evening.

Mary informed me that the girls were planning on going hunting in the evening.  What could it be?  Is a coyote going to meet its demise?  Would a bat be harmed in my yard?  Oh no….It was something that everyone has done at some time in their youth….The capture of lightening bugs!

Some people call them fireflies…but whatever you call them, they are fun to watch and capture.  Mia was prepared.  She had an empty tomato sauce jar to capture her victims.  It was going to be a team event…the lightning bugs had no chance!

The unfortunate part was it does not get dark enough to see them early.  As we watched a cooking show on desserts (Zumbo’s Just Desserts), the time got to about 2030.  I told the girls it was time for bed.  Their response in unison:  No…we are going to catch lightening bugs!  I said that if the bugs were not out now, we would have to do it a different day.  Mia started crying.  Milana immediately ran to the door and screams:  “Daddy I see one!”…and she bolts out the door.  The tears from Mia stopped as she bolted for the door with Bella in tow.

So does PETA wanna visit me yet?  Probably not….but the situation is about to get worse.  I see them grabbing up in the air.  They are screaming everytime they are getting close.  Then Milana says….”I GOT ONE!” and runs towards Mia.  Mia opens the jar and Milana launches the little guy into the jar.  I was proud as me and my brother used to go on hunting expeditions like this all the time.  A few more make it into the jar with the help of the team in between all the screams.

This is where PETA needs to pay attention.  I probably should have given them some instruction on how delicate the little fellas were.  As Mia was running around the yard with 3-4 lightening bugs in the jar…I noticed that they were not lighting up.  Thinking this is weird, I asked to see the jar….WELL, let’s just say that the word GENTLE is not in my kids vocabulary.  All the first captured or lying upside down on the bottom of the jar….not moving and definitely not lighting up.

I rallied the troops and let them know that they have to be gentle with them.  I gave them a couple techniques on how to get them without killing them.  They took the training and effectively captured another 5-6 of them before we had to call it due to the mosquitoes that decided to rain on our parade.  The kids will be back out tomorrow with Uncle Ron at the helm.  Hopefully we do draw protests to our home for the murder of innocent lightening bugs.

Please give us some love and like our Facebook page otherwise I will send the girls over to you….and THEY ARE NOT GENTLE!