Last week we had a surprise science lesson that was a LOT of fun. The girls and their Daddy went to walk the dog and they came back a lot sooner than I expected VERY excited. As the walked through out apartment complex, they came upon the BIGGEST caterpillar we have EVER seen! We decided to get a container and head back down to catch it and watch it become a butterfly. I got my shoes on as fast as I could and we headed to the caterpillar with a rubber maid container in hand. We found the caterpillar about a foot from where they had left it and gently picked it up with a stick and put it in it's new home. We then collected sticks, rocks, sand, grass and leaves from the area for it.

After Hermie Lee Friend (the name Bug gave it) was secured, I let the girls play on the playground for an early recess. They had a blast and Cali started going down slides all by herself! :-) after 20 minutes or so of playtime we headed back home to get to work. The girls had to check on Hermie every 10 minutes. We had to do reading by Hermie so he could hear. We had to each lunch with Hermie as well. Every time the baby saw Hermie, so giggled and squealed. Hermie quickly became part of the family.

However, I began to notice that Hermie was not eating so I did some research on the web and found out that caterpillars are VERY picky eaters and usually only eat one kind of leaf. We went picking leaves from our apartment complex times but never found his leaf. Then, after doing more research we discovered the Hermie's species of caterpillar while stay in it's cocoon all winter and finally come out in the spring. Well, if you have been reading here long, you know that this winter we are flying back to America and I can't imagine the conversation at customs trying to get our science project home. I am sure it would make a great blogging story, but I don't think it would be all that great as we were living it!

So, after many tears we took another walk and let Hermie go. He was only with our family for 48 hours, but the girls fell in love with him. He will surely be missed. Of course I got lots of pictures to document the science project and I just can't help but share them! There are pictures of getting the caterpillar, playing on the playground, reading time at school, and then saying good-bye to the caterpillar. ENJOY!