mushrooms and toadstools

It's been a while since I wrote anything in here. I have a lot of catching up to do as it's been a very busy month. But I want to tell you about Davina's neices, Faith & Grace. These beautiful babies were born about the same time Popi-Da was exiting this earthly plane. He would have been pleased with the timing. They are beautiful little girls now, 3 years old. Their parents, Travis and Heather, are young enough to keep up with them. Truth is when you first meet them you wonder how in the world these kids can hold anything together. But it doesn't take you long to figure out they know more about marriage and parenting than some people ever learn. I'm off on a tangent here so shall return to the story.

Spring time in the Midwest means mushroom hunting time. From the prized Morel's that everyone looks for to the more common fungi that flavors stew pots. Mushroom hunting is a typical topic in a lot of families. This one being no exception. My particular fave is those who harness pigs to sniff out the morel's. Seems pigs are as fond of them as humans. I'm sure Grace & Faith had heard their share of mushroom stories. In fact, based on what happened next I'd guarantee it.

The girls were spending the day at the babysitter's house. She also has a young girl about the same age. While in the fenced in back yard there must have been some discussion about how to find them. I'm told the baby sitter's daughter pointed out some mushrooms on the other side of the fence from them. 3 year old arms are thin enough to reach through a chain link fence and the girls harvested some for themselves. We don't know how much they actually ate. What we do know is that they weren't mushrooms, they were toadstools and that everyone got pretty sick that day.

To her credit the baby sitter took everyone to the hospital and no one was seriously ill. The twins spent the night in the hospital and were released the next day. All adults concerned were flustered (including those only aware of the events by phone calls). The girls seemed to enjoy the extra attention once they got past the blood tests. I've been told that toadstools can be poisonous. I'm sure that's why they all had to be checked.

Everyone is fine now with a brand new story to add to their memory chests. We keep thinking "someday this will all be funny" but it's going to take a while for the poor baby sitter to get over.