How to not catch a duck.

We've had a rough transition - Stafford and I.

The summer was filled with adventure and fun.

And now the house is quiet.

I'm actually fine with that, but my 5 year old is not.

He misses his brothers and I just don't cut it.

So today, I was determined to be fun.

We gathered bread and Cheetos (Cheetos? I don't know, seemed like a good idea.) and went out in the rain to entertain.

 Things started out well.

He decided that he really wanted to hold one.

Tactic #1: Hide behind a tree and dart out when the ducks get close.

Problem was that he never waited long enough and he usually let out a war cry as he charged.

 

 Tactic #2: Lasso.
 He went and got the rope that he made in Kanab last weekend.
He was pretty proud he thought of it.

It wasn't long before that was obviously not the way he would catch his duck.

So, Tactic #3: Hansel and Gretel.

He lured them out of the water with food that he placed on the shore.

He got the closest with that one, but that darn war cry, once again, didn't help anything.

The 4th and Final Tactic: The Gollum Crawl. 

Nothing worked.

And we ended the afternoon with tears.

And pouting.

And whining.

When Stafford came into the van, I was using a wipe to clean him off and as I opened his palm to wipe it, this is what I found.

A bug.

"It's my pet," he said between sobs.

I usually have a strict no bug policy in my van and house, but I was weak at the moment and tired.

As you would guess, before we could get home, "the pet" was MIA in my van.

At least it wasn't a spider or a snake.