A day at the park...

Last week the kids and I went on a nature study walk with some friends. We were planning to find and identify wildflowers. In the process, we found a really cool caterpillar.

Thanks to my handy dandy field guide (i.e. iPhone 5 and Google), we were able to identify this little guy as a Black Swallowtail caterpillar. We discovered that if you touched him, he would extend those orange looking antennae and rear up to respond to the touch. After the children passed him around for a little while, we put him back on his host plant and continued our walk.

After searching out all the varieties of Texas wildflowers we could find, we set down to do some watercolor field sketches of our favorites. A few children painted Texas Thistle, some Coreopsis, others Yellow Wood Sorrel. It was a lovely day with friends.

But, we kept thinking about that caterpillar and how cool it would be to raise it. We offered it first to our friends and went back to look for him. He was right where we had originally found him, happily munching away on his favorite leaves. I gathered him up for our friends, and since his host plant was a weed in a cultivated flower garden, I decided to "help" and pulled the host plant up from the roots so my friend could replant it and have food for the caterpillar.

I was quite surprised to find two more of the same type of caterpillar on that plant. So, we decided to keep them. I dove in and was "helping" weed the garden to get us some of the plant and discovered two more caterpillars, so I took them home for another friend up the street. All of the children were giddy to get home and get a home set up for our newest pets.

Settled in a 1/2 gallon Ball Jar on our nature study table (a.k.a. the dining room table), we watched our two friends munch and munch. A little research on the internet revealed that they also liked parsley and carrot tops, which was a good thing because my "replant the host plant" experiment didn't work and I didn't want the little guys to starve. Everyone who has come to our house since their capture last week has been forced to endure the "come see our caterpillars" plea from all the people under 48".

Yesterday we noticed they weren't moving around any more. Then, we saw they were spinning some of their threads to attach themselves to their chosen place for becoming a chrysalis. Then, they did nothing. And we stared at them doing nothing. And we talked about them doing nothing. And we wondered when they would do something.

This morning they were both still attached and unmoving but very definitely still caterpillars. Around lunch we walked past and noticed that one was a chrysalis! Excitement abounded! But the best part was yet to come... After dinner I was just staring at them. And then, I noticed the last caterpillar was wiggling. Then his head turned green. It took a moment, but I realized I was watching him turn into a chrysalis before my very eyes!!! I called for the kids who could come. We all ooohed and ahhhed. I grabbed my phone and recorded it for the kids who were taking baths to see. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it. Amazing.

And now we wait for the most incredible and amazing thing... the butterfly! And we marvel at our Creator God and the majesty of His Creation, and we thank Him for allowing us to behold His handiwork.