Summer Souvenir

The girls and I were able to spend some time at Grandpa Ralph and Grandma Judi's ranch last week. One thing about living on acreage like that ... "pests" can be quite prevalent.

One of the less desirable pests, in my opinion, are the rodents. Of course, that's my opinion, not Megan's.

Now my folks have purchased a nifty rodent zapping device for such pests, that basically electrocutes any "friends" that might venture inside its metal walls. Once the execution has taken place, a red light flashes on the outside.

When we arrived at the house, Megan saw the metal box and asked Grandma Judi what it was. Once it was explained to her, she was very diligent to check for red flashing lights whenever she'd walk by it.

A day or so into our stay, it happened. Megan saw the red light flashing! She ran to inform Grandma, who told her to tell Grandpa. Grandpa came to the rescue, and confirmed what we had suspected: Fried Mice (okay, it was one mouse, but Fried Mice sounds like Fried Rice, only ... oh never mind.)

Megan: Can I keep it?

Grandpa: Sure you can.

Me: Uh ...

Before I could sing "M I C - K E Y" Grandpa had emptied the long-tailed corpse into a Ziplock baggie and handed it to Megan. She was THRILLED.

If only I'd known she'd be so happy with a dead mouse, I could have saved a lot of money on souvenirs at the Exploratorium.

Oh well, at least Christmas shopping will be easy.