When Science Comes to You III - The Frog

My sister and her family are here from Washington. My nieces, Willow (7) and Meadow (4) are creative, fun, active children and my kids have really enjoyed playing with their cousins while they are here. We went up to my Mom and Dad's for three days. It was while we were leaving that we met the frog.
Willow caught it by the pond. Just a little green frog. My little Sarah actually held it for a moment, but Tim did not want it anywhere near him. Marcus touched it and laughed, but Luke did not have a chance to see it as he was already loaded in the van. As Tim is getting in the van, he suddenly remembers Grandma said he could pick green beans before he leaves. Being the ever-gracious mom that I am, I agree, if he hurries. I leave Luke, Mark, and Sarah in the van and head to the back of the house to see the green beans with Tim and Willow and Holli.
One child is unaccounted for. This is the child who is holding the frog. This is Meadow, who in her kindness, wants Lucas to also see the frog. Since Lucas is buckled into his carseat and cannot come to the frog, Meadow brings the frog to him. How considerate. However, frogs are not meant to be held by children.
As I round the corner with Tim for the van, Meadow and Sarah are rushing toward me with the news. "There's a frog in the van!" Sure enough, I see him under the seat. However, I side with Tim and I am rather squeamish about actually touching an amphibian, so I opt for Meadow to catch it. She misses. We find the frog again and Aunt Holli tries. She misses. At first, Tim refuses to even get in the van with the frog hiding in there because he is scared. Finally we are all headed down the driveway. Tim is asleep in about 10 minutes. All is quiet on the way home.
The next day, I clean out the van. Children surround me, helping carry things to the porch. I hear their sweet voices. I hear Mark, "Frog, Mama, frog. Go frog." I turn to see him holding a much thinner frog than I remembered, thinner and stiff and wrinkled. He drops the frog and tells it "go frog." Then he picks it up and hands it to me.
I actually touch the dead frog. I announce that we have found the frog and we all look at the dead frog and talk about what sort of habitat frogs need and why we should not bring them anywhere far from their habitat. Tim notes that if people don't touch them, they will stay where they belong. We throw the frog away and wash hands, even the children who didn't touch the frog wash hands. I wash mine twice.