spring friends

Once spring rolls around, you know how all kinds of creatures come out of their hiding.

Would you look at this little guy I found at Lake Lynn? The quarter gives you some perspective on his size. I think he's so cute! I was walking with becca (and Anderson) while Camden was in school and we stumbled on this little guy walking across the path. I just had to take him home to surprise Camden. I knew he would love it.

Meet "Hard Shell". Very original name, I know.

This was after he got washed off with some water... now you can see the pretty colors of his shell. Camden wanted to take Hard Shell to school to show his class one day, and I thought that was a great idea. Once a week at school, the kids have a little "Discovery" class, which is basically a science class. The teacher has something different each week for the kids to learn about. She heard about this little turtle that Camden had brought in, and she asked me if she could use him for Discovery all week. So, this little guy was famous at preschool! :)

And last but not least, our little furry caterpillar. These little things are a sure sign that spring has arrived. They are everywhere! We were playing at the park when this guy was found. Did we find him happily crawling along the ground? Nope. I found him crawling on my neck. Yes, my neck! SO gross. I definitely screamed and started stomping around like a little girl. Caterpillars aren't that bad, but they are bad when they are crawling on your neck.

Meet "Baby Mothy". Apparently this kind of caterpillar turns into a moth instead of a butterfly. We've done our research.

Baby Mothy built a Chrysalis (like a cocoon) in his little cage about a week ago, but things aren't looking so good now. He seems to be shriveling up and hasn't moved in a while. I'm going to wait and see if anything happens, but it looks like we might have to have a burial service for Baby Mothy. (Burial service = dumping him out of his cage into the yard.) :)