And Then There Were Three...

Butterfly number three emerged today... another monarch.

We have another caterpillar which we think might be a swallowtail caterpillar... we'll know for sure after it goes through the change.

After we get through the butterfly stuff, we'll be on to stars. Gabi wants to learn about the constellations.

Remember The Unknown Caterpillar?

Well, Gabi just recently returned from visiting my mother, and she had a wonderful surprise! She did some home schooling while she was there! (okay, so really it's two surprises) And she discovered what that crazy caterpillar was called.... (go Here to see a picture. It's the top picture.)

Are you ready.....

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Wow... now how hard was that? She found it in a book! Let's hear it for research! Now we'll know what we're looking for when (if) the moths emerge!

Homemade Rainbows

Yesterday was warm enough that the kids wanted to fill the kiddie pool and play. So off they went, swimsuits on, to have a little relaxing fun. Then out came the sprinkler. It's one of those crazy all over the place things, but the kids mostly enjoy holding it still in one place. Well, suddenly I hear Gabi say "Hey, let's make a rainbow!"



It took a little doing... and they kept looking into the sky... but finally Beth says "There it is! On the grass!" They each took turns holding the sprinkler and getting it just right so they could make a rainbow and then see how bright they could get it by adjusting the angle or height ever so much! I even got some pictures... I was amazed that the rainbows turned out!


So, how do you do this? Well, first make sure you get the ground nice and wet. It takes the wet grass to create the best reflection rather than hoping to hit the light just right and hoping to have enough water in the air. After that, have the child hold the water spray about chest level. You may need to walk around the child a little to find the rainbow, but it will be there. They can even see it while they are spraying... just be careful that they don't move the sprinkler, or water spray source, while they are looking around or they just might miss it!

Caterpillar / Butterfly Update

Okay, so I said I'd be back the next day and never made it back. I'm sorry to report that we don't have any pictures of the "process". We were very good about staying in the kitchen, and even checking on the caterpillar every ten minutes. However, eventually everyone wanted lunch, and really, I wasn't expecting the flip to happen until dinner time or a little later anyway. Apparently the caterpillar was just waiting for a lull... because, in the 20 minutes we made and ate lunch (fast for us), the change had been made. They must be really fast... and must really like their privacy! Maybe they're just really modest! Oh well... anyway, we're a week and a half since the change over, and excitedly waiting for the butterflies to emerge sometime this weekend or early next week. At that point, we'll post pictures of everything we have!

1 Caterpillar, 2 Caterpillars....10 Caterpillars

I mentioned caterpillars earlier... well, here's a sample. We first found caterpillars on Saturday morning. Not thinking about it, we let the first three (all monarch caterpillars) get away. Then we let the next two (Hickory Tussock caterpillars) get away. It wasn't until after that when we remembered we had this great little butterfly garden. So we started collecting. We brought home, from our walk, three Hickory Tussock Caterpillars. The next day we found another 6 caterpillars - two were monarch and 4 were something else that we've still not been able to identify. That brought us up to 9. When Gabi went for fresh milkweed, she found another and promptly brought it in. It was of the group that we can't identify.


This first one is the one we can't identify. We have 5 of them. If anyone knows what they are, please share with us. I'm fairly certain that it's a type of moth caterpillar, since it's hair and that's typically a sign for moths.


This next one is the Hickory Tussock Caterpillar. It is a moth caterpillar, so if we keep it, we'll have it over the winter. They only reproduce once a year, and they live in their chrysalids over the winter to emerge sometime in late spring.


And, of course, there's the Monarch Caterpillar. This is a butterfly (for anyone who doesn't know or can't tell from the name). Which means that they reproduce twice a year, will go from larvae to chrysalids in two weeks, spend two weeks inside the chrysalids and then emerge. Much faster, and much more exciting for little kids.


As you can tell, these Monarch Caterpillars were already very large when we found them. So we predicted they'd morph into chrysalids within a couple of days. We weren't too far off. The first one began the journey yesterday about dinner time and completed the chrysalis about 24 hours later. The second one began tonight, just after dinner. We hope to watch the change more fully tomorrow - it's very exciting and the kids are planning not to be far from the butterfly garden all day so they can continually check and not miss anything! :)

Although I do have pictures of the first caterpillar in the J formation and then in the chrysalis, I'll wait until tomorrow to post, as we'll have more pictures from our "watching-non-stop" tomorrow... and that will be more fun!