Snails

After a couple rare rains here in Arizona some cute little snails emerged by our back porch. Rowan was so excited to discover these little snails. She had never seen any before. 

Then the other day she was playing with some colored water on the porch while we were learning about mixing colors. Well, the water poured over and flooded the dirt at the edge of the porch, and all the snails came out of their little home that was, lo and behold, under our porch.

 

The last couple days we have been watching and examining these darling creatures. And oddly enough I can sit and be quite entertained watching them slide around. It's really relaxing!

Rowan calls them Shenllos, or sometimes Shnells. As I tucked her into bed last night she was talking about the Shenllos outside and the Mama Shenllo, and Daddy Shenllo, and the baby Shnells. 

At first she was okay to touch them and pet them, but didn't want to hold one. Then today she brought one to me, and showed me how she had helped all the 'friends' be together. She was totally excited to see them 'hugging' too ;) (More like, crawling all over each other, and possibly procreating, haha.)

Here she is holding a baby snail.

I was telling Ben how cool homeschooling would be. Where we could take this simple discovery of snails and turn them into a great teaching lesson depending on her age. We could learn how to differentiate between the males and females; what their homes really look like underground; how they slide around, and all that jazz! We haven't decided for sure if we'll home-school yet, but it's likely. I was homeschooled as a kid and I loved it. 

Ben says it's like having a pet, except they're much easier to maintain. ;)

We love our little Shenllos.