Thursday, July 26, 2012

we should be dancin' ....yeah!


Henry took his first dance classes the past couple of weeks and really enjoyed it :)  In fact, he loved it so much that he would get pretty upset when class was over and it was time to be done.  This morning, the first thing he did was jump up out of bed and say I want to go to dance class!
 It was such an exciting time :)
 :)
 They practiced balance by using stuffed animals
 His favorite was the penguin dance because they got to pretend to slip and fall on the ice at the end :)
It was a Me and My Tot class, so I only nabbed a few photos between dances with my boy :)  Loved it!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

metamorphosis







Last month I became incredibly irate when all of these little worm-like creatures quickly took over all of my pansies and devoured them whole.  I flicked.  I picked. I tried to keep them at bay, but there were always a few stubborn ones that hung around.  Eventually, I figured out that they were caterpillars once they grew larger.  I Googled them of course only to find that they would become pretty orange butterflies or more scientifically, "variegated fritillaries."  So...I started feeling bad for flicking all of them away instead of keeping them around.  If I had, I would have my very own butterfly petting zoo on the patio.  Alas, it was too late and only one remained.  So we doted on him like no other.
Henry had a complete investigation of the crawling critter before he cozied up in my potted baby apple tree to make a cocoon.  Get ready for some heavy documentation.

He called it a Paterkilla and the two became quick friends :) 
 Paterkilla was wigglish....
 ....and ticklish :)
 And Henry handled him very gently repeating the mantra: I won't squish it Mommy. Right, because if he did, we would have no more Paterkilla.
 As I stated, we had a very thorough investigation.
 Here he is saying, You are goin to be a pretty butterfly Paterkilla.
 I put Paterkilla on my hat Mommy.
HAHAHA!  
super brief side note: I sewed this orange hat for Henry.  After many hours and various failures I finally got this one put together so I am darn proud of it.  
Henry, Mommy made you that sun hat with love stubborn relentlessness.  
I definitely want to make more....someday :)
I love hand and feet photographs, but for some reason people only ever take them of newborns.  I adore Henry's little toddler hands.  They are forever sticky or have some dirt/paint/crumbs/bugs on them :) 
 A very fascinating fellow
See the orange fingerpaint in the cuticles?  That's what I'm talking about. 
 Then Henry and Daddy watched some videos on youtube of caterpillars turning into butterflies.  
So Henry decided that he wanted to be a butterfly too. 
 I'm flyin!

 A few shots of Paterkilla after he was released into the wild.
 reeeeeaaach for that leaf!
 a personal favorite.
 Getting ready to be a butterfly.

Just today I walked outside to water the plants as Henry napped and I saw an orange butterfly perched on the leaves of the apple tree.  I took two steps forward and it quickly fluttered away and was gone.  I look under the leaf and the cocoon was empty.  It was a shocking sight, to know that the not-so-pretty looking thing hanging up there had turned into that pretty butterfly...too bad I wasn't able to capture it and Henry didn't get to see it.  Next time, I won't be so quick to flick away unwanted guests.....hmmmmm makes me want to think deeply and metaphorically about life :)  
Love, Sara

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Cousin Fun :)

Monica has been visiting Gunka and Nana from California and two weeks ago, they came out to the hills to hang out and see us too!  Henry hadn't seen cousin Monica for a year and it was fun to catch up and take in some sights.  First we went to Reptile Gardens
 showing Monica the giant turtles
 watching an alligator show
 we got to pet a baby alligator too!
 we also traveled through bear country
 and we saw pooh bear and all of his friends...hanging out.
 i can't imagine wearing a coat like that on these hot days
 the baby bears are the most fun to watch--they are so comical
 and hot too :)
 making friends :)
 then they camped at crazy horse and we got to hang out with some friends, Gordy and RuthAnn who were working there for the summer.  They showed us all the sights and we went to the light show in the evening.  And henry got to spend some time on his bike.

 and i took some unnecessary photos of flowers again.
 the prettiest flower there :)
 the gang
 haha :) gotta love photos with grandkids just being themselves
 hanging out at the camp with frisbee boomerangs.
 it was so much fun, and much too fleeting, and as always, i don't feel like i ever get enough photos while chasing after henry simultaneously :)  until next time!