Our Beaver Tales: Mr. Rockefeller & Abe Lincoln

My girls have never been "girly". Yes, Baylee has always loved gold, sparklythings, but she loved getting inthe dirt just as much. Caylee thinks any slimy creature is the most adorable thing ever. They both refer to "their special place" as the very far corner of my mom and dad's three acres in Oklahoma. They crawl under a barbwire fence to get to the tree lined creek. They splash in the water, find turtles, and run back to the house covered in dirt. That makes them happy. They feel safe there. (I'm totally going to have to give their special place it's own blog post!)

We don't have the luxury of three acres on the outskirts of town here in South Carolina, so the girls have to make due. There is a pond in our subdivision and in these parts of the country ponds mean alligators. That thrills their souls! Our backyard is also drastically smaller than what we had in Arkansas. This has led the girls to get creative in their outdoor adventures.

Enter Mr. Rockefeller & Abe Lincoln.

While playing outside a few weeks ago Caylee managed to capture two tiny lizards. I'm not sure how she did it, but she did it. She was ecstatic. From time to time Brandon's dad will catch a lizard for them and they ooh and ahh over it and let it go. From the moment Caylee caught Mr. Rockefeller she was in love.

Caylee immediately began begging to keep her new pets. I could see the pure joy in her face so I obliged. She got a plastic bin from some Halloween pretzels we purchased at Sam's and made it their home. She found some pine needles, leaves, tree bark, and grass and did the best she could to recreate a natural habitat. We even bought reptile food for the little things once they decided to stick around for awhile.

I always knew in the back of my mind the lizards stay at our house would end tragically. And it did. Caylee was good to keep them in the garage if it was going to be cold over night. (Yes, even in SC we have had 30 degree weather!) She said they needed to stay warm because if they were outside they could burrow in the dirt to find warmth. They could do that in their plastic cage.

And so, last Saturday morning Caylee went out to check on Mr. Rockefeller and Abe Lincoln. (I'm still not sure where she came up with those names. And it's funny because Abe was the tiny one and Mr. Rockefeller was a lot longer. Ha!) She took them outside and was going to reach in and grab Mr. Rockefeller when she discovered he was no longer alive. She was heartbroken. Tears started streaming down her face. She started blaming herself for not taking better care of them. It. Was. Sad. And then she looked for Abe Lincoln and he was gone too. I'm telling you, this girl has a heart for all animals. She was beside herself.

So what did we do? We gave them a proper burial and funeral, of course! Brandon started digging, I grabbed my camera, gave Baylee the video camera, and the four of us stood in our backyard and said goodbye to our reptile friends. I cried along with Caylee. It was sad. She would come home from school, scoop up Mr. Rockefeller and tell him all about her day. They were quickly becoming best friends. Sadly, Caylee had to say goodbye before she was ready.