The girls and I braved Folklife festival on Monday. We went relatively early and the crowds weren’t too bad. We met up with some friends and hung out in the sun near the bluegrass stage for most of it. The girls had lots of fun dancing and running around together.
This year, we decided to try something new. We ordered some painted lady caterpillars with the hopes they would turn into butterflies before our very eyes. It turned out to be very neat. First comes the cup with 5 caterpillars. They crawl around and eat the special food, and then eventually they crawl up top and hang upside down with a slight curl. Then after a few days a beautiful gold chrysalis forms. You can see both in the photo. A few of the chrysalis fell down so we weren’t sure what would happen. After all 5 have formed, they get moved to the little cage like pavilion.
The next phase is they emerge from the chrysalis and turn into butterflies. We were able to have the experience of actually watching one coming out. I saw just a hint of a wriggle and it all happened within a few minutes. That was the only one we got to see emerge. After feeding the butterflies for a couple weeks, it warmed up enough to set them free. I wish I had a camera for that. They didn’t come out so the girls and I each held out our finger and the butterflies climbed on. The girls each held theirs for several minutes and then at the same exact moment they both flew off. Very amazing. We will definitely do this again.
While outside the other day, we found a plant that had maybe 20-30 snails on it. It was pretty neat to see that many, and many of them had their necks stretched out which we usually don’t see. They were moving around and some looked like babies. Well, both girls immediately picked them up and then Kayla decided she need to give the snail a little kiss. Not sure why, but it was quite a sight to see.
Julia has been great at swinging on the monkey bars and even looping her legs around a bar to hang sort of upside down. Today however, she managed to “do” the monkey bars all by herself. It was the first time she tried it and she was pretty excited.
I managed to squeeze in a solo weekend to visit my old college friend Sandy in California. We had a fantastic time. I met her husband and 5 year old daughter, and then she whisked me away to go hiking Carmel valley. Lovely hike and some sunshine too. Then we spent the night in Carmel, walking around, having dinner, and ending the evening with some live music in an open courtyard restaurant. We got a bit of rain too, but still had a nice time exploring Point Lobos the next day. What a great trip!
Julia’s preschool made their last field trip to Discovery park. The docent was fun and had lots of real (dead though) animals to show the kids including lots of birds, a mountain beaver and a mole. It was fun to see the kids all interested in what he was showing them.
Guess who came home from school grinning with a big toothless smile? Little Miss Kayla’s wiggly tooth finally made it out. She said she was eating her shirt at school (yes, I must remember to feed her more at lunch) and her tooth came right out. She was so excited to use her new tooth fairy pillow last night. It was quite an exciting milestone I must say. The second loose one will be out any day now I’m sure.