The Tale of Tittle the Turtle

On Saturday morning, we rounded the kids up for a family bike ride.  It was beautiful out, and exercising outside after that weary winter has been a much welcomed change for everyone's moods.  Vitamin D for the win.  We headed out with our caravan, which included me riding solo, Phil pulling the bike trailer with Xander and Declan inside, and each of the bigger four kids on their own bike.  We rode through our downtown and then onto the bike path, and even stopped to take a family selfie.

  

I never thought I'd say it, but with the size of our brood, we may actually need one of these.

Then we saw him.  The biggest turtle I have ever seen up close in nature.  

Of course, we all had to stop and look at him.  He was huge, he was dry, and he seemed to be stuck in the mud.  We poured some water on him, and Phil tried to move him into the woods.  But, SNAP!  That turtle was not having it.  Phil tried again to help him out, and again, SNAP!  We reasoned it might be dying and I told the kids to leave him alone and let nature take it's course.  

We rode on, and I couldn't stop thinking about that poor, dying turtle.  On our way back home, he was still there, still stuck in the mud, still looking hot and bothered.  The kids had to stop again to take one more peek.  And that's when John-Paul yelled out "It's laying eggs!"  

He was a she!

I wanna hear you calling my name

Like hey mama mama hey mama.

And she was nesting, not dying!

No wonder she was snappy!  I'm pretty miserable in labor too ;)

We were all so happy for our sweet turtle mama!  Maggie named her Tittle the Turtle and recorded the memory on paper:

Who knew a family bike ride could be a lesson in life and death and life again?  I make {weekend} homeschooling look easy.  

Big wink.