Author: Joyce

Major and Minor

BUtterflyAudrey released three Monarchs and two Painted Lady butterflies yesterday.  While we were in the field, I found a huge caterpillar.  Audrey voiced my thought that it would be neat to get a picture of the butterfly flying above the caterpillar.

It was fun trying to get the picture we were attempting.  I was on my back so I could focus up.  Audrey would place the butterfly and then move her hand away. The butterfly would fly away and then stop for a snack.  Audrey would bring it back so we could try again.

I ended up deleting a bunch of pictures. Audrey and I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. The most important was that Monarchs fly a lot faster than you think!

Megan

MeganMegan says that Mommy camp was a lot of fun. One day we picked daisies and Queen Anne’s Lace for a science experiment.  We put the flowers in water and watched them change color.  She hopes we can do more experiments even though the big kids are home again.

Adrian and Mommy Camp

AdrianThis week was Mommy Camp. The younger children and I plan a week full of fun when the older children go to camp. We do things that they like to do the best; like painting, doing chalk art, learning new recipes, and playing at the park.

We did not do everything we planned this week. But the kids and I had a lot of fun.

Last night, we went to the park for a picnic and to play for awhile. We attempted to fly a kite, but we were doing something wrong. Adrian talked about how Charlie Brown rarely keeps a kite flying. I guess he knew how Charlie Brown felt. We played by the water and watched bees around wild flowers.

It was a great week of camp!

Flower Basket

SmileWhile Adrian looked for milkweed to feed caterpillars this morning, Megan hunted for flowers.  She cut enough Queen Anne’s Lace to line her basket with a few purple flowers thrown in.  Adrian found a frog and added it to the basket. Megan thought it made the flower basket perfect.

Ninety Five

Grandmas smileMy Grandma celebrated her 95th birthday on Monday. Mom planned a party for her and surprised her with some friends who visited. It was a fun way to celebrate with Grandma.

Happy Birthday Grandma!  I love you!

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Grandma and Dash

GrandmaGrandma snuggling My parents and grandma came to visit this afternoon.  While they were here, the neighbor came and yelled, “We have a baby!” Of course, the kids all took off running to see the newest alpaca.

My grandma, who will be 95 on Monday, asked what was going on. Then she said she wanted to see and took off down the driveway too!  She was half way down our LONG drive when we finally caught up with her.  We told her it was a long walk to the neighbors and she rode the rest of the way.

Grandma’s smile was huge as she hugged on the newborn alpaca.  When we asked if she wanted to hold him, she smiled even more.  Even though the alpaca did not snuggle very well, he let Grandma enjoy him for a few minutes before returning to his Momma.

We are very thankful for the newest alpaca.  We have been praying for him a lot.  Mark has been watching for the last month, heading over 4 or 5 times a day to see if he arrived. He was named Dash and weighed 18.6 pounds. He appears to be healthy and is eating very nicely.

Releasing Butterfly

AudreybutterflyI am not sure how many butterflies that Audrey has raised this year.  I know that each one that she releases is hard.  She would love to keep each of them as long as possible.

butterflyIt was time to release her last emerged butterfly and we decided to wait till evening so we could get a good picture of the release.  Somehow, the butterfly tore his wing as we waited but we were not concerned until, after Audrey released him, he  fluttered to the ground and stayed there.

Audrey picked him up and tried again, disappointed that her butterfly was hurt.  He fluttered to the ground again.  Thinking he might never be able to fly properly, we decided to try one more time.  This time, as Audrey released him,  the tip of his wing fell off and he quickly flew away.