Tasha escapes; Oliver the frog

I worked from home today, which meant I picked up Kyra after school rather than her going to day care. At the end of my "work day", we went down to the tennis courts to practice Kyra's serve. Leah was being coached on the court next to us. After about an hour, we took a water break and were talking about whether or not to continue playing. Kyra wanted to, but about that same time Leah said, "Tasha's out." We had heard Riley barking for a while and just assumed it was because he knew we were next door. Turns out, he was barking because Tasha had slipped through the fence. As soon as Leah stated ever-so-calmly that Tasha was out, Tasha came waltzing up to the courts and we exited, calling her. Thankfully, she came right to us! Kyra walked her back home by the collar while I carried our tennis stuff.

I thought she had crawled underneath the side fence, since it was low in some areas, so I took fallen wooden planks from our split rail fence and placed them along the edges of that side of the fence. Karolin and Zoe were outside and after talking for a few minutes, suggested that the girls play together while Karolin mowed her lawn and I did fence work. After I finished with the fence I went inside to make dinner. Kyra and Zoe were in and out of the house several times. They made a "club house" in the garage using cardboard boxes. At one point, Zoe came into the kitchen and asked me, "I'm just curious; I wonder what frogs eat?" Hmmmm, I wonder where they are hiding the frog....

At dinner, after Zoe went home, Kyra said, "I wish I could have a pet for the club house, like a lizard or frog or something." BIG CLUE. I asked if there was something that she should tell me and she said no. But I have eyes in the back of my head... After dinner, while she was brushing her teeth, I peeked in the "club house" and found the frog in an old hamster cage. I called her out into the garage and said that I found the frog. She said that when she and Zoe were showing me the club house, they mentioned that inside one cardboard box was where toys or other fun stuff could be stored. Aha! Once she was busted, she said his name was Oliver and that she and Zoe would take turns caring for him. Karolin got a big laugh out of it and said that Zoe would love to take care of Oliver while Kyra's with her dad. So, I guess for at least a few days, Kyra and Zoe have a pet frog: Oliver.