Friday, May 30, 2008

Dead Chipmunk in the Pool....Ahhhhh!

The excitement just never seems to stop around here! All week long, I've been looking forward to Friday night. I was planning to sit under the Tiki Hut by the pool, listen to music, watch my son play in the pool with some friends, and enjoy Hayley Grace and her friend Lindsay as they sang and pretended to be Hannah Montana. Listen to my oldest son tell me his weekend plans. And enjoy the fact that Jeff and Dylan were on an outing together at the Charlotte Knights baseball game It was just going to be good Friday night fun. Until.....


While the pizzas were cooking, Hayley Grace and Lindsay ran in the house and proclaimed, "There's a rat in the pool, can we still go swimming?" Now keep in mind, they had totally straight faces and were serious. I thought for certain they were joking. They promised they weren't. So I walked outside. Sure enough there WAS a rodent in the pool. A little smaller than a rat, but a relative I'm sure. Floating atop the water was a stiff little chipmunk. I said, "Oh that's not a rat, it's a chipmunk." "Mommy, is it Chip or Dale?", asked Hayley Grace. "No, it's not." (I knew she would start crying if I said yes.) "Well, can we still go swimming?" "No! That's gross! We have to shock the pool." "We don't care." "Well, I care, you can't swim."

This went back and forth for about 10 minutes. All the while I'm thinking, How am I going to get this dead thing out of the pool. Jeff is gone with Dylan, and I don't want to scoop it out.....hmmmm. About that time, Hayden, my tough 12 year old came out to see what was going on. An idea popped into my head......"Hayden, I need you to be the man of the house since Dad isn't here. Ok?" "Ok" he said. He had no idea what was to happen next.


Poor guy, he tried to get that thang out of the pool. Instead it just got trapped in the filter. That made it even harder to get out. I ended up having to get a small collendar out of my kitchen to scoop it out. As Hayden scooped, us girls ran away screaming. He moved it from the colendar to the pool net. Then proceeded to chase us with the pool net. I was screaming and threatening his life all at the same time. Check out these photos:

Hayley Grace tries to push the dirty little rat from the filter back into the pool. The pole you see has a net on the end trying to capture it on the other end. They could not get it out of the filter though.




Hayden and Lindsay try to move it. Still no luck.











Finally, brave Hayden scoops it out with our kitchen collendar. (btw, this collendar is now history. I will never use it again to drain broccoli...or anything else!)










Lindsay gets crazy while Hayden moves the little dead fella from the collendar to the pool net.








Look closely. Do you see the thang? There he is. I know it's a he. A she would not have jumped in the pool unable to get out!








I only wish you could see the unseen in this photo. Hayden is chasing the girls with the dead rodent in the net. You have never heard such sharp shrills in your life.








More screams!
















This is Hayden. I actually gave him permission to dump our dead friend on the golf course behind our house. (Please don't tell on us!) So, here he is doing just that. I wonder what the Saturday golfers will think of the new addition to the 11th Fairway?


Here he is. My hero! Hayden, you rock! Thank you for getting Chip (or Dale)...that dead thang out of our pool. We are shocking it now and thanks to you, we will be able to swim tomorrow. You are too cool for school.











There you have it. Our exciting Friday. Stay tuned. I'm sure there will be more to come.
Have a great weekend friends. Rodent free I hope.

Love,

Melissa

11 comments:

Deacon Pat said...

Nice blog...

God's peace to you and your family.

Joyful said...

Oh my Melissa - quite the adventure after dreaming of the perfect Friday evening.

I couldn't help but notice your son was wearing a t-shirt that had the word "Champion" written across it. He really was the hero at your home last night!

Fun post! Can't wait to read your other summer adventures!
As far as I know, we're rodent free,
Joy

Lysa TerKeurst said...

Too funny. We had a turtle in our pool today. I just told the kids to jump in and get it out. He was still living and is now somewhere in the woods behind out house.

I don't think we'll have to worry about seeing him again. He didn't like being chased by screaming girls and barking dogs.

Julie Wyatt Kelada said...

My folks had a nest of baby flying squirrels at their lake house and one unsuccessfully tried to fly last night and hit there deck and was dying. They were so sad. I hate that for the little chipmunk...I did notice the champion t shirt too but I laughed because we know the only champions are the T-I-G-E-RRRRRR-S!!!!

Love Julie

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Oh, my, what an adventure! Poor little Chip... or was it Dale?

Charlene Kidd said...

Love the shirt!!!! Haydon is a hero that knows a great team!!!
I was in Gville yesterday.
I hope your weekend is calmer. Check out my blog and see what I am doing right now!!

Chef Diane said...

Isn't the who the Chipmunks got started. By one of them stepping out of their comfort zone. Maybe this won didn't sing too good. That is too funny. My boys throw my Yorkie in the pool. But they put her on a float and push her to the middle. She has no choice but jump in a swim. She could be mistaken for a rat.
My boys found a mole the other day, alive. I got in the car and locked up tight. I don't do that rodent stuff.
Diane
Just think these are the memories they will tell their kids.

Kim said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I really appreciate it. I check yours out daily.

I enjoyed reading this one. It made me laugh thinking about it. I'm at work and it's 12:30AM, so I need a laugh!!

I'm doing very well this week. Once again, God has been very gracious towards me. I have a little over a week sober. I'm very grateful. Honestly, any day that an alcoholic is sober is a miracle. I'm just trying to remember to do the next right thing...one day at a time. I'm trying to remember to focus on God and my recovery. It works if I do these simple little things.

I am so grateful for you and Prov.31 ministries. I get so much from y'all each day. Keep up the good work!! You're a blessing to me.

Kim

Jodie Wolfe said...

Funny story, although I'm sure it wasn't at the time.

I'm praying for you and all the P31 gals as you prepare for She Speaks.

Blessings,
Pearls

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! Nice Post!Kind Regards

Anonymous said...

I find nothing funny about a chipmunk drowning in the pool.