Summertime and the Living is Easy?

Okay, the kids have been out of school for a few weeks now and we are getting into the lazy summer groove. It is so nice to not have to rush out of the house every morning. Cynthia had a bit of a hard time getting used to no structure in her day. Now she's just as spontaneous and laid back as the rest of us.
One thing about summer that I could do without is the snakes. I've seen several Garter Snakes just walking around in the yard. It's easy for everyone to tell when I've spotted a snake by the scream. That's bad enough but on Saturday Paul and I were cleaning out the garage. I went across the street to dump out some water and there, curled up in the grass was a Water Moccasin. If you don't know what that is it's a big, fat, black, very scary looking poisonous snake. Now I don't want to go outside at all. Paul assures me that it won't come over to our yard though. (?)
Also on Saturday one of the puppies found a dead chipmunk. Paul and Cynthia were trying to catch the dog but she was not gonna give up that prize very easily. At one point she ran inside the house with it because Emma was watching through the open door. Every time she ran by me all I could do was run away and scream. I don't think Paul appreciated my lack of help. I told him after, for future reference I don't do small dead animals.
Those were our animal adventures for this weekend. I actually did do more than run around screaming on Saturday but I don't remember exactly what. In spite of all the critters that summer brings I do love it though.