Summer is Winding Down

I haven't got much to show for the summer in the way of photos, but here a few of my girls. Shiloh was visiting us for the weekend, and she curled Gabba's hair. It looked so fabulous, we had to snap a shot or two. Then, later, she found a gigantic, green caterpiller in our yard. It was the size of a hotdog, no joke! We looked it up online at this cool website, that helps you to identify caterpillers and what they turn into, called "what's this caterpillar?". http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.uk/america/index.htm
We learned that ours is a Imperial Moth, which will grow to have a wingspan of 5.5"! It's in the same family with the Luna Moth and the Polyphemus Moth, both of which we have found on our back porch this summer. They are all really big. Needless to say, we were pretty impressed. Hyrum set it free in the walnut tree (they eat walnut leaves, but are not considered pests). While he was doing that, Lu and 'Liza climbed up on the branches - which are pretty close to the ground, and perfect for climbing on - and posed willingly ("Mommy! Look at me! Take a picture of me doing this!") The next day, Gabriella and Lucy wanted to do some watercolor painting. Of course, they just wandered away when they were done, and left the paints on the table. Yvette climbed up, found them, and promptly began to eat them. Good thing they're non-toxic! Here are the pictures from that. And, believe it or not, I was able to get the paint out of her white blouse. Thank heavens for OxyClean!