Farewell Turtles!!

We bid our turtles farewell last Saturday.  They were getting too big for their cage and they were stinking up the place like you wouldn't believe (Becca can confirm).  We decided they needed to find a nice pond to enjoy the rest of their days.  I was looking around for one to drop them in, until Trevor told me he heard it's illegal to do so.  So I contacted an outdoor wildlife preserve that had ponds with turtles. They said they would be able to take them in for us.  I was really excited because I knew this would be the best place for them.  I thought about giving them away to another home, but I really wanted them to not be stuck in a small tank anymore.

This is how they looked when they came into our home, September 2008. I can't believe they were ever that tiny!!  They have obviously been well-fed!

Jacob had the honors of placing them by the pond.  Lightning plopped right in.  Thunder went a little wayward into the bushes.  Jacob had to collect him and redirect him to the water.

One of the turtles popped up to say goodbye. I'm pretty sure it was Lightning. Thunder tolerated us but we didn't really have a special place in his heart!  Jacob was pretty sad as we walked back to our car.  I felt pretty bad, even though I knew if I had let the turtles go without his knowledge, he wouldn't have noticed for months that they were missing.

Krispy Kremes seemed to do the trick of cheering up this sad little boy.

Hunter seemed fine with letting the turtles go.  He was just happy to finally get his doughnut that I had been promising him all day!

We will miss watching our turtles grow, but we know they are in a MUCH happier place!  I promised Jacob we could go visit them when it starts getting a little cooler outside.