Breanna received her caterpillars in the mail  a few weeks ago.

caterpillars

She diligently watched them, waiting for them to move from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.

watching hatching

She was so attached to them that she even took them to the funeral home for a family viewing. I was a little afraid the staff would ask questions, but they only raised their eyebrows, trying to figure out what we had while we scooted on in.

taking butter to viewing

Finally, they “hatched.” She was absolutely thrilled!

butter on brea's hand

Take a look at these incredible creatures. The wing looks like velvet.

butterfly wing

The body looks so different from what I expected, and is absolutely gorgeous.

butterfly body

The face is mesmerizing.

butterfly face

Check out this one eating with his proboscus. Amazing!

butter eating

But the best part of the whole experiment was the butterfly who couldn’t fly. I was sad at first; then I saw him as an incredible gift to Breanna. She carried him around all day on her shoulder, becoming fast friends with him.

butter on shoulder

I tell you the truth–he shook like crazy when the rest of us handled him, but was smooth and cool and relaxed in Breanna’s hands.

butter on head

She named him Mr. Butter and spent lots of time playing with him.

butter on eye

He enjoyed playing back.

He also enjoyed a good snuggle.

brea napping

I guess it’s all that loving that finally helped Mr. Butter to fly out on his own. Breanna misses him, but she will cherish these memories for a lifetime.

Recently we visited blogging friend Becky and her family at their new country house. The entire yard is a maze of secret gardens my children loved running through. (Check out her post Another Day, Another Dozen Flowers for some gorgeous photos.)

secret gardens

The highlight for the kids was swimming in their awesome pool.

brian swimming

brea swimming

brooke swimming

brad swimming

brooke pool

You wouldn’t believe from these photos that, a few minutes into swimming, a really ferocious thunderstorm rolled through. Lightning lit up the house and thunder shook it. But you know kids–they loved it.

An impromptu photo session. What mom could resist snapping this?

brea 5

brea 2

brea 1

brea 4

A few simple snapshots from our yard.

clover

budding hydrangea

blooming hydrangea

Last month our Sonflower Sisters group took us on a journey of trust.

watching vulture

We had to trust Ms. Melanie wouldn’t let the big vulture out of the cage, first. TeeHee.

vulture

We practiced trusting one another on hikes through the woods. Yes, the girls did blindfold and lead me. And no, I didn’t peek!

blindfold game

We trusted the rain wouldn’t ruin our swimming session.

pool and bay

And, biggest of all, Breanna trusted me that swimming in big pools is fun. What a breakthrough!

brea swimming

I love when we learn new things from our Sisters.

What fun it is

brooke shadow

to discover the beauty of God’s creation

brea shadow

in new ways.

deb's feet

We’ve lived in our lovely home on the river for seven long years, yet this is the first summer I’ve let the kids actually swim in the murky brown water.

brea catching brooke

Dont’ feel too badly for them–we have a swimming pool in our yard. Besides, not everyone wanted to get into the river anyway. Some were satisfied with just “fishing” and snapping photos.

three swimming

But three of us were river rats, swimming in and out of piers and between boats, loving the feel of the warm water between their toes.

belly bump

Umm…and doing the “belly bump” in lifevests. TeeHee!

They learned a few things…

tasting river water

like don’t open your mouth underwater, and don’t swim between boats and the pier (yes, that scream-heard-round-the-world was me).

They also learned…

023

how to kick back,

018

and how to enjoy adventures together. These are the moments I live for.

After their visit to the National Crime Museum, the boys drove over to the Smithsonian’s new National Air and Space Museum:  Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

out front

It looks like a fantastic place!

overhead shot

This tower is not working,

tower

but relays all the information from the real tower nearby. You can go up in it to watch over the runway.

standing in tower

This is the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima during WWII. I don’t even have words.

enola gay

After a long day, the boys made sure to get a photo with Dad.

chuck and brad

chuck and brian

After dinner and an Imax, the boys headed home to show us girls all their photos and tell us all about their exciting day.

I’m Featured On

The Crafty Crow

Great Project Ideas

Make and Takes

Decorating Inspiration

Archives