Butterflies and Adelyn Jewel

The children and I got monarch caterpillars AND monarch eggs on milkweed at Nannie and Vance's house!  This was the first time we successfully hatched the caterpillars from the egg in containment.  My niece, Emma, instructed us to keep the leaves moist and in a warmer area and it seemed to work!  Those caterpillars are TINY, though, when they hatch.  I truly think they were in the jar for a couple of days before we ever actually saw them.  It was fun to watch the metamorphasis, yet again.  This year, Mia seemed to really understand that a change was underway and it was fun to experience that with a little mind in the house again.

We happened to have a chrysalis open one day when our niece/cousin, AJ was visiting.  Her reaction was pretty priceless!

Picnic before turning the butterfly loose.

We had 4 butterflies total that we watched.

The 3rd one was a little special.  We never did see him fly, but left it for mother nature to handle.  The next morning it was gone, I suspect via the food chain.

Butterflies are always a fun time of year.  My sister purposefully planted a patch of milkweed in the middle of her yard so that she can easily access the monarch caterpillars, eggs, and their food source.  #winning