All of the butterflies have now eclosed (emerged from their Chrysalises) and the last two flew away this afternoon. We had two on Sunday, five yesterday and two more today. Five at once was a lot of fun to watch. They're so beautiful when they're trying out their wings for the first time, slowly opening them and then quickly shutting them again. One of the caterpillars was smaller than the others. He must have been a couple of days behind the others and every time they molted they left him a size behind. The last time he molted he ended up with only one antennae which made him easy to recognize. He was my daughter's favorite and she always kept track of him while they were outside. Today he flew away. He ended up being the biggest Chrysalis and probably the biggest butterfly and he'll end his life with two antennae.
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| this guy hadn't been out long and let me hold him |
When we release them, they always fly the same direction.
They must have an internal compass that directs them North for some reason.
The rest of the day, I've been catching up on laundry and trying to get an always uncooperative house back in order, if their is such a thing, while the kids have spent a good part of the day outside. They made ramps for their bikes, played with friends, rode their bikes to McDonald's and made a house for a lady bug......and then, they had a "snowball" fight Not having much experience with snow, they naturally think they are missing out on something amazing. Having had more than enough experience with snow, I disagree. They decided to make snowballs out of crushed ice from the refrigerator. The ice didn't exactly stick together but that, and the fact that it was in the high 70s, didn't stop them from running around the yard and hurling handfuls of ice at each other. This turned into sandwich bags made into water bombs and eventually ended with a swim in the kiddie pool. My kind of snowball fight.
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