Tadpoles + Toads + Turtles + Fireflies + Horny Toads = A Perfect Childhood

I was thinking yesterday about the years of my childhood spent living in Edmond, OK. In those days, Edmond was not the booming metropolis that it is today. It was a very small town outside of Oklahoma City. I lived there from the ages of 5-7 (K-2nd grade) and I really think it was the ultimate childhood. There was a creek that ran through the woods at the back of our property. My friends and I would play in the creek and follow it to the pond it emptied into. There we would take picnics and mason jars to catch tadpoles in. At night in the summertime we caught huge toads in the backyard, and fireflies too. I remember putting the toads in boxes in the garage so that I could play with them the next day. They were always gone by morning. I thought they were magic toads but I found out as I got older that my dad secretly set them free each night. We also found lots of turtles and lizards on our property. I had captured a very large snapping turtle once and told my little sister, Andrea not to touch it. Of course, she didn't listen. She took my turtle out of the box and held it out in front of her. He pulled his head out of his shell as far as he could and took a big bite out of her stomach. She panicked and let go of the turtle and started jumping up and down and screaming. He just hung on to her stomach for dear life, bouncing up and down as she did. Being the compassionate older sister that I am, I just laughed as she screamed. I also remember catching horny toads and trying to make them mad enough to spit blood out of their eyes at us. We were always so proud of ourselves when that happened. I'm grateful for a carefree and very loving childhood and for my memories of Oklahoma.