I'll Fly Away

This is the ONE "as seen on TV" toy that I'll have to admit might be worth it's money.  Minus the whole shipping and handling fees of course.  The boys got this from our sweet friend Ms. Marie for easter.  It was a great easter gift and it wasn't candy so she get's points for that from me!!  The kit comes with a coupon for the caterpillars to be mailed to you but as with anything else now days you can totally order them online.  they show up a few days later crawling around in your mailbox.  Yes, they are in this self contained cup and much to my delight, there is no need to ever even take them out of it until they are fully formed cocoons   Their food is the brown paste at the bottom of the jar.  When they arrive, they are about the size of 1 inch pipe cleaners.  It is unbelievable how quickly they grow.  It took less than a week for them to become as big as a pencil in diameter.  When they are preparing to become cocoons, they crawl to the top of the jar and attach to the paper disk inside the jar hanging upside down in a "J" shape.  They boys loved watching them eat and grow.  Every day they were waiting for the "J" shape and knew what was next.  

Lincoln continually called them "Coons".  It made me giggle so I didn't always correct him.

 As soon as everyone had jumped onboard with cocooning, we took the paper disk out and pinned it inside the butterfly pavilion to await their big debut.  Over the next several days, they hatched one by one.  We were never quick enough to watch the hatching process but a few we discovered quickly after hatching when their wings weren't quite dry.

 We fed them sugar water dropped onto flowers and fruit.  We enjoyed watching them flutter around for a few days then we set up a date for their release into the wild.

 Sevier Park in Nashville proved to be the perfect spot and from the way they took off without so much as a photo, I'm pretty sure they were excited to finally be free!  I loved the joyful look on Lincoln's face as his butterfly wasted no time taking flight.

 The boys were sweet and cooperative for some reason this afternoon.  They sure love Ms. Marie (or Miss 'aree, as Lincoln says) and will miss her in TN but hope to show her around Texas in the near future.