About 2 or 3 weeks ago, my mom sent us a little package of caterpillars (the painted lady type) and all of the instructions on how to care for them until they were large enough to set free. This last weekend, they all had dechrysalized (yes I made that word up, but watch out it's going to catch on) and were flitting about their cage ready to see the big wide world.
So we set them free. Here are a few pictures of their release into the great outdoors. Like most children, they haven't written home to tell us how they are doing, but I take that as proof they are doing well. If they needed money or sugar water, they'd probably call up right quick. I don't think that Lucy learned about the life cycle of a butterfly yet, or of how our life is a progression of emerging from mere caterpiller to beautiful butterfly who is going to show the world something new, but it was fun for us. Most bugs are still a little creepy, but when the preying mantis egg sack brings forth 100-200 little preying mantis hatchlings (which we've put in the butterflies old cage) she'll get another look at life's great mysteries!
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| butterflies in their youth |
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| just hanging around getting ready for the big change |
What a great project to do with your kids! Cheers, Jenni
ReplyDeleteNice--Lucy is blessed to have you for her a Daddy.
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that! Love the butterflies and what a fantastic kid project, okay it's great for us big kids too.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest daughter got one of those as a birthday present once. It was so much fun! Even the neighborhood friends came over for the big butterfly release!
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