We've been having a lot of lazy summer days around here recently. I know its not summer yet, technically, but it certainly feels like it. After a lot of preparation for my youngest daughter's birthday party......
The cake my daughter, with a little help from her brother, made for her sister.
...........we've all been taking it easy the past few days. There's been a lot of, in the pool, out of the pool, in the trampoline, out of the trampoline, in the pool..... going on. I love to watch the kids happy and enjoying life. I've spent a lot of time floating around in my inflatable seat soaking my swollen feet too, although I have yet to go on the trampoline. Maybe when I'm really anxious to go into labor.
Today my son spent the morning researching ways to build a pond and a fountain in the backyard. He loves PVC pipe and wanted to find a reason to buy some. His intention was to fill it with Koi until my daughter pointed out that we have cats. Undaunted, he replied, "then I'll get sharks". Haha! I love the way that boy thinks. Not, that we are getting sharks for the backyard! We'll have to keep thinking about ways to keep both cats and fish safe. He also spent some time opening up his old computer to show his little sister all the different parts. Ever since he was a toddler and would purposely break his toys just so he could "tix" them, he has loved taking things apart to look inside. Unfortunately, many of his toys have fallen victim to this practice over the years since his ability to take apart is not equal to his ability to put back together again. However, I think all the little bits of information he's gleaned in the process will make it worth it in the end and someday he'll not only be able to put lots of things back together again but possibly make some new things too. You'd be amazed at what that child can do with rubber bands, broken pens and duct tape!
My oldest daughter made this tent for her sister so that her Barbies could go camping.
This one's more Barbie Vs. Wild
New Butterflies
We've had 3 new butterflies in 3 days, 2 outside, and one inside.
We didn't even notice this chrysalis hanging from the side of my flower pot until this guy came out.
You can tell he's a male by the two black dots on the bottom of his wings.
Butterfly Rescue
This one emerged from a Chrysalis hanging right above our backdoor. Afraid we might knock it down, we were hoping to notice it emerge before someone accidentally opened the door. We were fortunate to notice it first and kept the door locked all day. However, at some point in the afternoon when she made her first attempt to fly, she somehow flew into the pool instead. The kids noticed her trying to climb onto a floaty and my youngest daughter was able to successfully rescue her with the skimmer before I even got there. She was still alive. I put her on theses Pentas to rest and dry her wings. You can still see a water droplet on her wing. She stayed for awhile but later in the afternoon she was gone. So it looks as if she escaped the incident unharmed. Hopefully the chemicals from the pool didn't do any lasting damage and we won't be finding mutant caterpillars in the garden.
No spots, so this one's a girl.
Last year the Monarch population was significantly depleted due to frost in Mexico where they migrate to for winter hibernation. Our Monarchs don't migrate so I don't know if this helps, but because of our milkweed we've added over 40 butterflies, that we know of, to the Monarch population. I'm sure that there have been many more that we don't know of since we haven't brought all of them inside and many caterpillars wander off to pupate. Achieving the same success in your own backyard is as simple as planting milkweed. We had female butterflies laying eggs, the same day we brought the plants home.
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