The Butterflies That Fluttered By

Following several readings of  "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" Maddox became very interested in the whole caterpillar to butterfly life cycle. We spent many hours watching these magical transformations take place on You Tube. One day, following yet another You Tube session Amanda mentioned  that once while shopping she had seen a butterfly kit. She thought that it it's purpose was to allow kids to watch the process. I went online, found this site Insect Lore and decided to order the Butterfly Pavilion with a caterpillar coupon. Despite the great reviews, I was skeptical. Really? Caterpillars in the mail?? How on earth would that work? Surely they would  never survive a trip through the mail! Once the weather was warm enough we ordered our caterpillars. The five painted lady butterfly babies arrived in a little over a week in a self contained cup complete with all the food they would need until they formed their chrysalids. Once all of the caterpillars were in  crystalis form and hanging from the paper disk at the top of the cup, we moved them to the mesh pavilion. In a little over a week the butterflies started to emerge. The company guarantees at least five healthy specimens. We had all five emerge, one with a slightly deformed wing. We called him Nemo. Sadly, after all of that Maddox did not get to see any of them emerge. They all came out while he was at preschool. Timing is everything! It was fun, educational and interesting so we will probably do one more batch this summer. I was a little concerned about how Maddox would feel about releasing them, but he was all about it and happy to "let them go free."