This is exactly the kind of vacation happenings I prefer to both experience and write about!

I get really excited about red squirrels in Europe (I grew up with them but my local ones are gray or black and don’t have the tufted ears), getting to see bats and fireflies, and the one time we saw a hoopoe in the wild (in northern Israel). Your giant flying grasshopper does sound like the locusts we saw in Croatia - they were absolutely the highlight of my visit to some Roman ruins there, and the locals were very amused and like, you wanna take some home? XD

Also yay for Eleanor appreciating the toad you shared with her :D