Protect your Nuts!....Er, your M&M's.

Saturday the hubby and I took my girl to the park. She was very excited to have both of us going with her at the same time! We took popcorn to feed the ducks, who apparently were not interested, and again, must have been overfed. So we threw it at them, and watched the fish and turtles come to the surface of the water to nibble on 100 calorie popcorn (hey-I worry about their waistlines too!)

We had a goose come over to us as we sat on the shore of the pond; he was literally 3 feet away from us, making silly goosy noises. We saw fuzzy, cuddle-able ducklings kicking their little feet furiously, in an effort to keep up with their mom. We found an acorn that had started to take root, right in the middle of the playground, somehow setting stakes under all those kids' feet. My girl and I decided to go plant it under a nearby tree. The hubby grudgingly followed us to the tree, and rolled his eyes as we used sticks to dig a hole in the ground to bury this amazing acorn. I'm pretty sure he is embarrassed by me and my mommy antics on a daily basis. My child was excited about this mission, and that's all that really matters.

So, we were walking on along a path, when the hubby pointed out a squirrel to my girl. She ran over to it, and got within 3 feet of it, when it started to take off for the tree. But then he noticed that my girl had something in her hands, and he did a double take. He decided she might have something worth fighting for, so he walked within a foot of my girl! I told her to crouch down, and he kept going back and forth, back and forth, like he wasn't sure he should be doing this. (I'm sure if his mother and father were anywhere within eyeshot, they were screaming 'What the hell, boy! We told you to stay away from the humans!!')

My girl had M&M's in her hand. We figured, what the heck, let's give it a try. So, with the squirrel now up on his hindlegs, tail and nose twitching, my girl placed a green M&M on the ground at her feet. And the squirrel stretched as far as he could, keeping his feet planted, sniffed the M&M, and took it. He took it! He walked a couple of feet away, and ate the whole damn thing! Then he came back for seconds! Then, another squirrel perched in a nearby tree saw the M&Ms, and came down for a taste. At which point, the first squirrel got all protective, and went a bit Kung-fu on the 2nd squirrel's ass. They chattered and chased each other around the base of the tree. Ultimately, they both got the last of my girl's M&Ms, while she stood there full-out laughing, with her hand over her little mouth. I was truly amazed! Not sure what that does to a squirrel's stomach, but they didn't seem to mind at the time.

Of course, I left my camera at home, and didn't think to take a pic with my phone until the M&M's were gone. My husband got this shot with his snazzy iPhone. Notice the Dr. Pepper cap we have laid out for the squirrel. And notice the squirrel's expression: 'What the hell? I want the good shit!' (Okay, so the photo quality is not really good enough for you to see his expression, but I was down there by his little face too, and I can assure you that he was not happy with this prank).