Monarch Caterpillar Lazing About on a Milkweed Plant.

We have a large patch of milkweed plants alongside our garage.  They are currently home to quite a few striped caterpillars whom I believe to be future Monarch Butterflies. The kids and I have been watching them eat up the milkweed leaves for several weeks now. So far we haven't spotted any signs of Chrysalis building, but these Caterpillars are definitely growing in size.

Monarch Caterpillar Chomping on a Leaf.

I bet in the next few weeks that these Caterpillars will start wrapping themselves up for their next journey of their life cycle.  Before they do, I took some time today to capture them in their current state. Whether they were alone, with a companion, eating or lazing about, we found them to pretty fascinating creatures!

Interestingly, my daughter, aged 4, also spotted a white hairy Caterpillar crawling along our lawn.  After looking at it closely and doing some research, I believe it to be a Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar.  Unfortunately it is a type of Caterpillar that can give you quite an itchy rash if you are sensitive to their barbs.  I got a pretty good photo of this one, who was quite social.  But we stayed away because we are not going to take our chances.

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar on the move.

I think later today I may find our copy of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle and leave it out for my younger kids to find.  We may also have a little stuffed caterpillar too for them to play with.  Hopefully we can extend this experience a bit if they are interested.

As I was looking at my bookshelf, I also found a book that may be of interest to older kids and parents.  It is called, 'Hope for the Flowers' by Trina Paulus.  It is an easy read, with illustrations, but packs big thoughts about dealing with change through the story about a caterpillar.

Have you spotted any Caterpillars recently?  Please share in the comments.  If I spot any Chrysalis building I will be sure to share with you all.  Have a great day!

The two youngest have been asking for days to go to the playground, but the temps this past week have been in the burning hot range of 80-90 degrees.  Today has been mix of sunny and breezy, so it was finally the right weather to go.  Earlier this afternoon, we gathered up water, hats, and a picnic lunch and headed to the playground. The kids were so excited!!

After eating lunch and playing in the sun for awhile, we decided to cool off under a shady patch of Pinetrees. On the ground under the trees lay dozens of Pinecones.  My two little ones thought they looked fun to collect and play with.  They were quite resourceful and discovered that they could collect more at once using their hats to gather them up.  Papa later gave them each a shopping bag to collect the Pinecones in which made it easier to carry many at once.


My daughter, aged 4, pretended to put the baby Pinecones to bed in her hat. Her brother, aged two, loves to count things, so he spent time lining them up and counting how many he had collected.  They played with the Pinecones until they were cooled off and ready to climb and run around again.

I love how much fun they had playing in and with nature. It goes to show that the best things in life are truly free.  I also think today's family outing proved to be a success. Not only did they get to run around and move their bodies, they also did some imaginative play and even some counting too! Hopefully we can do this again soon!

There are always natural items just laying around on the ground.  What do your kids gravitate towards in nature and how do they play with them? Do you have a favorite outdoor space to take your kids?

                       
Today was a gorgeous day for October.  The sun was shining, and the outside was calling.  So we spent quite a bit of time out on our deck.

My youngest likes to climb.  He climbs on any chair within his reach. Mama doesn't like having to chase after him and put him back on the ground a zillion times.  So I decided to get creative with the chairs, and I used them to make a large Blanket Fort!

I brought out blankets and throw pillows. I started to gather up the chairs, and put on the first blanket when bam my 2 year old had to get in on the action.  After I initially setup the fort, things took a very different turn. Daughter had other ideas....

First, she threw the pillows on top of the blankets. The blankets fell off the chairs of course.  Then the play became focused on the chairs.  The chairs were lined up. They were decorated with pillows. Giant stuffed animals were brought out, and set upon the chairs. Little brother was manhandled and moved about also. Lol!
                                                    
This afternoon my oldest son spent some time playing out there with the littles. After he resetup the blanket fort my Daughter ate her snack underneath it, and my one year old laid down. When they were busy playing outside of the fort, Mama even hid under there to get a few moments to use my phone in peace. Haha!

I would have to say this was a successful activity.  Sometimes going old school is better than high tech activities.  They had such a fun time and got lots of fresh air too!

When was the last time you made a blanket fort for your kids? Have you tried making one outside?