Wouldn't you know it, I sure did, that all but one of our toad tadpoles had turned into tiny toads by the time we got back from vacation!  But what a blessing that this one little tadpole held out for us!  My very good friend Kari was tadpole-sitting them for us and had to release them as soon as they transformed because if she didn't they, for some reason, would die very quickly.  I'm so thankful for her taking care of them for me!  So when I picked them up yesterday there were three in the container, two of which had just changed into toads.

Can you see the two little toads camouflaged on the rock (click on the picture to enlarge)?

Here's a photo of one of them swimming around.  As you can see he still has just a nob of his little tail left.  We read that the tail gets absorbed back into the body, it doesn't just fall off as some think.

So, after observing them for a bit, we immediately took them down to our creek and realeased them.  So now remains one little tadpole.  I couldn't get any good pictures on him because the water is too murky.

I also wanted to share some pictures from a couple of days before we left on vacation.  The kids and their friend Danny were checking out the small pool of water and mud over next to our lot and found lots of little baby toads hoping around.

This one is a bit slow in absorbing his tail!  I just think they are so cute!

A quick glance over to the watery part revealed lots more tadpoles in various stages of changing.  It's hard to see it in the photo, but several were just moments away from coming out of the water.

The whole process of watching this transformation from eggs to baby toads has been priceless for us!  The kids and I have learned so much, especially an even deeper appreciation for God's magnificent creation.  To think that something can start out as a little black blob swimming about breathing underwater with gills and then transform into a little toad crawling out of the water with legs and having lungs to breath out of water is truly breathtaking to me.  But when we take the time to stop for just a bit to truly observe His creation, this is just what happens.

I look forward to collecting more eggs next Spring!

To see all the posts from our experiences click on Amphibian Study.