Monarch Release

This morning, our butterfly looked a little sad - we wondered if the poor gal didn't make it - she turned all black in her cocoon.

Then we looked closer and I could see more colors...

Not 30 minutes later, voila - she popped out and was stretching her wings.

We completed our plan this evening and set her free at the Sunken Gardens - it was a beautiful evening.

We caught the moment on video - she flew off as fast as she could and hung out in a tree for a while. After we climbed the stairs and looked over to the spot, we saw the bright orange of her wings fluttering by the flowers in the area we released her!

This Week

A good week thus far, involving in no particular order...

Krista starting 1st Grade - her nervous excitement could not be contained - and happy that she is not the only girl in her class after all. I am thankful she is not old enough to not want me there or avoid my invasive camera.

Her classroom, she has a small class so they will be on the "other side" of the kindergarten building this year.

Our little cocoon smoothed way out, waiting our 10-14 days for him or her to emerge - we plan on releasing our butterfly at the Sunken Gardens, which has some beautiful blossoms right now.

Silly faces, each unique, each precious and hilarious in their own way.

My birthday - with an impromptu birthday party at my parent's house - including a delicious lunch and blueberry crisp for dessert - yum! And my funny attempts at a self-portrait to update my profile.

Houseguest

We brought the poor guy inside, he was hanging around outside our house... he's already changing so much and it has only been a day - not much longer and he will flit away.... he was a crawling Caterpillar yesterday and this morning he was hanging by a thread, an hour later he looked completely different.

Very cool for our little eyes to see how quickly this metamorphosis takes place.