Spit bugs and boogers

Yesterday, I was getting stuff out of the car when Leo started calling for me, "Mom, come here, I want to show you something!" I can't tell you how many times a day I hear that. I fill my arms with all the stuff from the car and drop it inside the door, and Leo's yelling, "someone spit all over our tree!". I'm thinking about the teenagers up the street, and I realize the entire bush is covered in little spit balls. It's absolutely disgusting. We cut a branch off and put it in a bug jar and determine that it's the nymph of the spittle bug. Today, we brought it to school for show-and-tell. And then Leo explains to me that he knows what the spit tastes like. He explains that he tasted it yesterday to see what it tasted like - "It tastes like boogers! And you know how much I like boogers!"