Butterflies and Sunflowers

The girls got a cup of sunflower seeds at a friend's birthday party. We planted them and watched them as they began to sprout. Doug placed them in the garden and we checked on their progress everyday. Three stalks made it and they're now taller than I am! We just had our first bloom this week. We noticed how much fun the girls had watching the changes in the sunflower and so for Anna's birthday, Nana gave the girls a butterfly nursery. We sent off our card and waited patiently for the caterpillars to arrive, checking the front door everyday. I never imagined the mailman would place them in our neighborhood mailbox down the street and so I didn't bother to check for several days. When I finally discovered the box, plainly marked "Live Butterflies" stuffed in the mail, I was sure that the 5 caterpillars wouldn't survive. Miraculously, they did and we anxiously checked the nursery each morning to see what changes had taken place over night. Out of the five, four hatched into butterflies. We managed to release three of those four. Two flew away happily while the third hung around a bit longer as its wing was a bit gimpy. Regardless, it was a great experience for the girls and I must admit I quite enjoyed it too!