The End of an Era

Ya know when you donate things to Goodwill or D.I,  it feels good to know you're recycling, giving to a good cause and clearing space in your home, right? Yeah, a good all around feeling, everyone wins! Well, today was a great day for making a donation in a different way.  Today we donated our pets!  Our dear salamanders, Mander and L.G, and Toady-Toady (our toad :), can now be found  at the Family Science Center in Downton Des Moines! AND our furry, but a little less cuddle'y pet, Flanuga (Chilean rose tarantula) has a new home at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.  How awesome is that!

We have enjoyed our little pets for the past years.  Flanuga has been with us before Chloe was born.  Her name was initially Nuga (as in the hair that covers a baby in the womb), but after she ate our other tarantula, Flick, she took on his name as well and became "Flanuga". Then there is Mander and L.G (stands for Little Guy) and they have been with us almost as long.  The best part about these guys were when they ate, especially Mander, so much fun to watch.  Plus, a huge perk to these two were that they are kid friendly!  Toady-Toady came home with us from Utah's Strawberry Reservoir about 2 years ago.  I wasn't keen on keeping him, but when I heard the little croak he made there was no way to say "no".  Of course these weren't our only pets through the years: our fishes (Gekey, Gomey, and Deep), a handful of frogs: leopard frogs, bull frogs and cricket frogs.  There were possibly more, but those are the animals that I can remember.  Anyway, now that we'll be moving around a bit for the next year, this option of giving them to a great cause is just perfect!  

"Good-bye" Butterfield Animal Era... 

(for now)

These two pics of Rainee are just to show how big she's getting and how stinkin' cute she is!