OK... I'll do it.

Each time I look at my computer I think, "Someone out there really needs to blog.  I need some new reading material."  After so long of waiting and waiting, I decided maybe I would take a turn and then everyone else would follow suit.  And I couldn't just write this and leave it at that.  So here's a picture and a story.

This picture is really no good.  All I had was my phone and this is the only photo of the whole evening that wasn't somehow corrupted.  (Seriously... they all have issues when you try to look at anything but the thumbnail on my phone.  Darn.)  My phone camera does a fairly acceptable job when the subject is still and the light is at least kind of decent.  But Tyler was not holding very still... not because he was running away like a normal person would be... but because he was so excited to hold this boa constrictor!

We were over at Colby's parents' house the other evening and this kid, Jackson, came over to have Connie help him with a little something for his Eagle project paperwork.  We started asking him about his pet snake and he just lit up!  A little interest in his pal had him super eager to bring it over to show the little boys.  Connie was on the verge of freaking out because she did not want that snake in her house.  She was so sweet and polite while asking him to please not bring it over, but Colby and Brady convinced him it would be a good idea.  I was super impressed by Connie once the snake was there.  She just acted like it was no big deal... she sure loves her grandsons more than she hates snakes.  What a good Grandma.  Marshall and Tyler thought it was pretty cool to see this 6 1/2 ft snake and touch it and hold it and stuff.  At first Tyler would barely touch it and then squeal so loud... almost like it was scary but he still liked it. It only took a second to be sure that he really, really liked it and Marshall was definitely intrigued.  We learned that the snake's name is RJ, he eats rabbits, and will probably not get much bigger than he is right now because he will only grow to the size of his habitat... and his habitat is a tank.  Not Jackson's bedroom like we had heard.  Jackson has some logs mounted in his room to be a little jungle gym for RJ and the snake gets to hang out in his bedroom for a little while most days before getting tucked safely back into his cage.  I'm pretty sure we all took a chance to pet the snake and check it out.  I like that my boys weren't too freaked out by it and were just curious about the creature.  I like even more that Colby took the time to explain to Marshall that we don't just play with snakes.  RJ is a pet and so we can trust him more, but if you just find a snake somewhere you don't try to touch it or play with it because snakes can be very dangerous.  I believe Marshall took that counsel very seriously... thankfully.