Butterflies

At Toys R Us, Becky found a butterfly kit on sale and thought this would be something fun for Kyla to have as her first pets. They setup the cage and sent away for the caterpillars.

When they arrived, there were five surprisingly little critters but they grew very quickly, doubling in size almost daily. Kyla named them Heart, Jewel, Heart Jewel, Love, and Love Kyla.

While we were away in San Diego, Kyla gave them to Asher to caterpillar-sit, during which time they wrapped themselves in cocoons for their chrysalis stage. Then while she was away at Ocean Shores, two of them hatched into butterflies. After she returned the other two also came out and she fed and cared for them for about a week.

Then it was time to set them free. We opened up their cage and they all were still for a while, until finally two of them flew away. We tried to get the other two to go, but they wouldn't budge.

So we kept them assuming they just needed more time. Unfortunately they eventually died, but by that time Kyla had completely lost interest in them. I disposed of them when she wasn't around to avoid her getting upset.

Overall it was a lot of fun and an interesting learning experience for her.