The Scene of the Crime

We had some unexpected nocturnal visitors two nights ago. Samuel woke up at 1am on Tuesday and while I was putting him back to sleep I heard a loud noise that I could not readily identify right outside his window. I naturally assumed it was the child thief that I always hear in the middle of the night coming to steal Samuel (because let's be honest, who wouldn't be lurking around in our suburban town breaking into houses specifically to steal little boys who wake up multiple times in the night. I think I read too much Roald Dahl as a child).

The unidentifiable ruckus was followed by the sound of splashing water and the clicking of plastic toys. As any reasonable person knows, child thieves do not swim in kiddy pools, so I peered out the window to see three fluffy tails sticking out of Samuel's wading pool. Baby raccoons were frolicking in the water and playing with the baby toys. They were so boisterous they managed to spread the toys halfway around the yard.

I sent Steve to scare them off. When he opened the sliding glass door, two of them scurried a couple of feet away, but the mama showed up and seemed to be about to mosey into our kitchen. Steve shut the door and left them to their devices. They became fans of Steve's footwear, and he now needs a new pair of flip flops. I regret not being awake enough to take pictures at the time but here are some before and after shots.