Butterfly #3 Release

This is out of order (oh heavens!), but here is butterfly #3. This one was a male, so I think it is Joe. Oh, I don't know anyway.

We were on our neighbor's deck. Our neighbor L doesn't have great vision but she could see this! as you can hear in the background.

4 New Ones

We must have hit the motherlode of monarch caterpillar eggs. We have 4 new teeny weeny caterpillars. Here are 3 of them with my hand for reference.

There are 2 more eggs that hopefully will hatch in the next couple days.

fun fun!

Butterfly ReLEaSe

This turned out pretty decent.

Butterfly #1

She's beautiful and perfectly formed. Yes, she is a she. Dang, so much for the Jonas Brothers naming convention! I am a bit confused, as I thought this one was JOE, so perhaps a name like Josie would suffice.

But I am told this one is Nicolette! Alright. Fine.





She hasn't really eaten yet.

I think we will get some watermelon to supplement the sugar water-soaked tissue and peeled grape.

Aloha!

Aloha! Yes, it means hello and goodbye. For us today it was goodbye to A., leaving for Hawaii with her friend M. and their family, as M's dad is getting married on the beach in Maui. For them it is...HELLO HAWAII!

I am so excited for them -- what a wonderful trip, surely to be very very memorable.

Here they are this morning...

Ah, I'll miss her.

But just think of all the savings in mileage while she's gone...and the eerily silent phone...

Softball Team

This is our softball team, Purple Reign.

About 1/2 hour before this photo I sprained my ankle. Good thing I have shades on, as I was in quite a bit of pain. Oh yes, right after this photo I went to the ER!

S. is in the middle row below me, in red shorts.

We had a really fun season. The girls taught me a lot about enthusiasm, as in many games we were outmatched...but regardless of the score, they never cared and always had a positive attitude.

In one game we were behind by 10 runs and they were saying "oh, so what?" We came back to tie which to me was oh so fantastic, only to lose in the bottom of the last inning. To come back to tie, for me, was the biggest and best triumph of the season...

Flower Day

OK, this photo has some goofy glare for some reason. This clematis every year is laden with blooms! I think it is 20-25 years old, from the previous owner.

We have a patch of Asiatic lilies along the front walk. Well, it was looking very tired last summer, didn't bloom very much. So last fall hubby and I (mostly him) planted oh about 100+ new bulbs. Here are the results!

Happy 4th!!

Here are a couple photos of the parade, and Grandpa's bday later. There was a very nice calm beautiful dog, Bentley, that aunt C and uncle D brought and the girls were very interested in him.









These are our friends and one of G's very special Brownie Troop leaders (there are over 30 girls in the troop!!). They have 3 daughters just like us.