The kids had to check on their caterpillars about every 15 minutes. We put them up high when the twins were up, who knows what those boys would have done to them.
After about seven days the caterpillars crawled to the top of the container and hung upside down until they turned into chrysalides. Ian and I ate our lunch in my room so we could watch them without distraction. Those caterpillars are sneaky I'm telling you! We went out of the room for 10 minutes and one changed. Crazy. We never did catch one "in the act" but we did see one just finishing up. I am used to silk worms that spin a cocoon slowly, you can see them doing it quite easily. These caterpillars just decide to change, and they change. It's really weird. In this picture you can see the one changed chrysalis and 3 unchanged, hanging caterpillars.
After all 5 had made the change, we removed the paper liner that was under the lid and pinned it to the side of the butterfly habitat. One of the chrysalides totally freaked out and started shaking violently. I never knew they could do that, did you? You can kind of see the movement in the one to the far left.
Eight days later and ta-da! The butterflies began to emerge. Sorry about the poor picture quality, they were taken through the screen. This is the only one we actually saw come out.
The directions said they like freshly cut oranges and to dip tissues in sugar water so they can drink it. We found out, however, that they aren't that interested in eating anything for the first day and a half, so we kind of wasted the oranges. The most effective method of feeding ended up being a little lid with some sugar water in it. I think they would have liked the oranges if I had put them in a few days after they emerged though.
We released our butterflies into the "wild" this morning. It was kind of fun, and actually harder to get them out of that cage than you would think. But once they got out, they were long gone.
Can you see it?
This was SO worth every penny spent. It was educational, interesting, entertaining, and the kids never got sick of it. If you're thinking about doing it, go ahead, it's so fun! We will probably do it again in a couple years :)
The worker was nice enough to take a picture for us.
I know it's not the best picture, but look at those eyes!
The view from above.
Adam waiting with the kids.
I really think for $3 they should have let him go more than once. Kind of lame. But he liked it anyway.
Hailey chose the carousel and the train. She loved riding the "pretty pony" and said "Yee-Haw!" the whole time. I have never seen her so excited! Notice the pony-tail, this was the first time we have ever gotten her to keep one in, it was so windy.
We said "chugga chugga chugga chugga choo-choo!" the whole train ride. She is talking so much more these days, it's so fun!
The food was ridiculously expensive, so we settled for sharing Gelato. Ian got his own, and 5 of us shared another one. Does that seem fair? Oh well, his smiling chocolaty face made it worth it.
We didn't really know what to expect when we went, but thought it might be nice to do something different. We had fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Afterward we visited the mermaid at the aquarium (since we were there) and then had a McDonald's picnic at the park. My camera battery died after the Gelato picture, so sorry, no more pictures ;)
I actually had a hard time figuring it out when I was going through these pictures! It's a sting ray, found in the Silverton Aquarium, which is a fabulous free place to take the kids!
In their Bass Pro Shop they have waterfalls and big stuffed wild animals.
And they have real mermaids!
One sting ray swam up and gave the mermaid a big hug. Crazy!
While we stared at the fish and mermaid, Jackson stared down his drink.
A scuba diver feeding the sting rays. Ian loves scuba divers!
Hailey is going to be a pilot when she grows up. One time there was a little boy co-piloting with her and when his mom asked him where they were going to fly he said, "to Las Vegas!" Well of course!
Nothing better than a big hug from a big carrot.
The kindergarten was in charge of the "bake walk." We donated some delicious cookies. Ian won these (not as delicious) rice crispy treats.
Hailey didn't need any tickets. She was completely content doing this:
And this:
Snow cones and popcorn for all! The twins ate at least a whole bag of popcorn, they must take after their dad.
We sure wore Grandma out!We are finally done having visitors for probably the rest of the summer. No one wants to come to the desert in the summer! I don't blame them. I love having visitors, though, because we get to have a little vacation at home when people come. We are finding out all kinds of free things we can do around Las Vegas. Who knew "Sin City" could be so kid friendly? I still have a list of a few places we haven't seen yet. Hopefully it will be enough to keep us busy when school gets out (*cringe*).
YUM!
Sisters :)
Since it's Mother's Day tomorrow, I thought I'd add that I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful mother. She sets such a good example to me, and I hope I can raise my kids as well as she did us. I love you Mom!
Chef Jack
This is what Hailey looks like while she's waiting for the bus. Gotta get in that last little thumb sucking/blankie snuggling time.
