Jenna's Butterflies

For Christmas, Jenna got a butterfly garden. All you had to do is send in for the catepillars. So we did right away and never got them. So I called and found out they never had received our order and got them shipped right away. During spring break we got the package. In side was a plastic cup with 5 tiny catepillars inside. We put them on the shelf and checked on them a couple times a day. In the begining there wasn't much to see, the didn't move alot. But after about 2 days they were double in size and moving around. They grew and grew! When they decided it was time to change. They were at least 10 times the size they were when they arrived. They change so fast! One minute they were catepillars the next they were safe and snug in their crysalis. The whole process from start to butterfly took 3 weeks. They ate and ate for the first week and the second week they hung in their crysalis and changed, the last week they were butterflies. We kept them a bit longer than we would have liked because of the cold nights. We released them yesterday. Emmalee and Jenna got a kick out of watching them grow and change.

Here are a few pictures :

the first day:

5 days later
6/7 days later (3 of the 5 are in crysalis)


Hanging out in the habitat.

the first butterfly emerges

now it is time to let them goEmmalee got to hold one firstBye bye butterfly!!