the tale of Tadley

one evening about 6 weeks ago we went for a little walk.   during our walk we found a big puddle filled with hundreds of tadpoles!   the puddle was between the road and a small parking area.  we couldn't believe a frog would lay eggs there, but we've had so much rain this summer that there are puddles everywhere.  as we walked home, we talked about coming back to get some tadpoles because we figured the chances of them surviving were pretty slim.  we never made it back that night, but the very next morning we went back with a bucket of water, and we just couldn't believe it, but  the puddle had dried up over night and all the tadpoles were dead, we were all pretty sad, especially fischer.  my husband decided to scoop a dozen or so dead tadpoles and put them in the water.

we were gone all of that day and didn't get back until late that night.  when we checked the bucket of water the next morning, there was Tadley the tadpole swimming around, the only one that survived!  wow, were we excited and happy to see that little guy.

we set up an old fish tank in fischer's room and put rain water in it, with lots of rocks and leaves.  we had to look online to find out what tadpoles eat.  we froze lettuce and would feed him that and sometimes soak dog food in water and then add it to his water.

it was so much fun watching the little guy everyday and see him grow.   fischer enjoyed this the most.  he was always upstairs in his room checking on tadley.  he had a little song that he sang to him at night.  fischer loved to tell me all the time where tadley was in his tank and where he was swimming to and what his favorite corner was.
what an amazing learning experience for fischer and amelia to watch tadley grow bigger and eventually become a frog.   i really enjoyed it too.  last weekend we went out of town.  when we left on Friday, tadley had his back legs and still had his tail. when we got back on Monday, the first thing Fischer did was run upstairs to check on tadley.   fischer   was just over the top with excitement,  " tadley's not a tadpole anymore, he's a real live frog! his tail is gone, he has front legs and was sitting on a rock and hopped off!" he just couldn't believe it.  i couldn't believe how fast it had all happened.
 
the whole time we had tadley we kept telling fischer that when he becomes a frog that we will have to let him go.  this weekend we had a lot of family in town and we asked fischer if he wanted to let tadley go when all of his cousins were here and he agreed, so we let him go on sunday in our compost pile.  we thought he could find lots of yummy bugs in there.  we think tadley is a tree frog, maybe a spring peeper, and told fischer that this way he can sing to us in our own backyard.  oh my was that ever sad.  fischer knew it was the right thing to do, but the tears came pretty quick.  it just broke my heart to see him so sad.   fischer would say such sweet things, "i just love tadley too much," and  "mama, how come when i think of tadley i start to cry?" and   "mama, i'm going to sing my song to him so he comes back."  "tadley was the best and luckiest frog ever, he was my best friend."

i wanted to go back out to the compost pile and find the little guy and give him back, but i didn't.  afterward fischer and his cousins drew pictures of tadley and little notes that say "we all love you,"  it was all very sweet. today, fischer is still drawing pictures of tadley.

that night after we let tadley go,  i was tucking fischer in for bed and we could hear a tree frog singing just outside his window and fischer asked "do you think that's tadley?, i think that's tadley singing," and   i said " well, it just might be."  and fischer fell asleep thinking that tadley was singing to him!