Misc Nature Pics

More Milkweed Visitors

I've had a couple other visitors since I posted the other day.

Don't know what this is. It looked like a bee when it was flying but it doesn't look like one when it's sitting still.










A Japanese beetle, so interesting looking but so destructive

Another bumble bee, going about his bee business











Milkweed bugs - Suddenly I have a ton of them! See the vicious sucking "tube"?! Also very destructive.

Finally, a lone ladybug. Sadly, I think she's in over her head. Hopefully she'll invite some friends over for an aphid tasting party.

Vacation Prep

We are eagerly anticipating our upcoming beach vacation. While looking for some beach craft ideas, I ran across Family Fun's duct tape beach bag craft. I thought the kids would enjoy the craft (who doesn't love duct tape crafts?!), and they could use their bags not only at the beach but to hold their special travel items for the long car ride.

If we hadn't used up all our duct tape for crafts awhile ago, this would have been a pretty cheap craft. Since I had to replenish our stock, I let them each pick out a unique duct tape color and I picked a neutral color to match. We started with a 16"x30" rectangle measured out on a kitchen trash bag that had been cut open & taped to the table. Tyler chose to make his stripes run parallel to the short side. Danielle made hers follow the long side. I can see how younger kids might have a hard time putting the tape on by themselves, but Tyler & Danielle did great. After all the tape was down, we cut the rectangle out and added (2) 2' lengths of cord to each short side, folding a small section over and taping it down to make a sleeve for the cord. We folded the rectangle in half and taped up the sides. Then we tied a cord from one side to a cord from the other side and repeated it with the other cords to create a drawstring. The drawstring is long enough the kids can wear the bags on their backs or over a shoulder.

The bags are really cute and feel like they could take a beating and still hold up.

Milkweed Visitors

I've had lots of milkweed visitors lately...


Different varieties of flies










WAAAAAAY too many aphids (I just can't keep up with them. Was hoping that alien shaped bug on the left is a lady bug larvae, but I don't think it's the right shape/color.)









Bees and wasps

Even a young hummingbird












But still no monarchs!

We had eggs around this time last year, but didn't have any until early August the year before. Hopefully they're still coming. (And hopefully the aphids won't suck my milkweed dry before they get here!!)

Uneventful Update

I have thought about blogging several times this week, I just haven't had anything to blog about! It has been extremely hot this week. With the heat index, the temps have been over 100* every day. It's just too hot to do anything outside, so we really haven't done much of anything worth writing about.

On Monday Mamaw took us to see Mr. Popper's Penguins. It's nothing like the book, but it's a very cute movie. (The book was really cute, too.) We didn't leave the house during the day on Tuesday or Wednesday. That's extremely rare for us. I actually managed to get my house clean, but it didn't last long. On Thursday we went to Donatos for lunch. The kids redeemed their summer reading program coupons for free pizzas, so lunch cost <$1.50 for their drinks. We saw Rio at the $1 theater. Although the movie has been playing there for several weeks, everyone else must have had the same idea. The theater was packed. That movie was really cute, too. I have to confess that I brought snacks from home. I did buy a pop for the 3 of us to share. It was the most expensive part of our day - $4.25 for 1 pop!! Believe me, if I could have smuggled that in in my pockets, I would have! After the movie we used some coupons we had to get free ice cream sandwiches at the ice cream stand in town. I got groceries on Friday. See how exciting our week has been?!

The kids attended VBS at Mamaw's church in the evenings this week. They really enjoyed it. Our church is charging $25 PER KID for VBS this year, so we've ruled that one out. They have gone with Mamaw the last 2 years and loved it, so we were going to go there anyway. By the time VBS was over and we got home each night, it was pretty late, so there was a lot of sleeping in this week, too. The VBS theme was Pandamania. That seems to be one of the popular themes this year. It looks like it was vaguely based off Kung Fu Panda's popularity. Although the mask is cute, I think Danielle looks kind of creepy with a panda face. And I wish someone would outlaw kazoos as VBS crafts or birthday party prizes. (Sorry, Mamaw. ;) The pandas on them were cute, though.)

This coming week we plan to go to the library, go swimming, possibly fit in an ice skating trip with one of Tyler's friends, and get ready for vacation. It would be nice if the heat would let up just a little. The kids are dying to ride their new bikes, and the near-by fishing pond was recently restocked. There's still so much to do before summer is over.

Blast from the Past - 2002/2003

In my BC days (Before Children) I enjoyed scrapbooking. When I had Tyler, I bought a nice baby scrapbook to start for him. It is now nearly 10 years later and it's still sitting in the original bag in a storage container in a closet in the extra bedroom. I'm pretty sure it's been 10 years since I've scrapbooked anything, baby book included, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. So, I finally gave up the idea that I would get to it eventually and decided to make photo books online since all of our photos are digital anyway. I am making one book for every year. That adds up to a lot of books, especially since I'm getting such a late start. I'm just doing them a little at a time, though, and am buying them when there's a good sale or coupon. So how many do I have? Just one per kid so far. They are a hit, though. The kids enjoy them and I feel better about having actual photos in print of my children's first year of life.

This week I have been working on pictures from Tyler's 1st - 2nd birthday. He was soooo sweet! Here are some pictures I wanted to share.

New Bikes

One of our kids' favorite pasttimes is riding their bikes. They haven't ridden much lately, though, because they've outgrown their bikes. Danielle's was especially bad. Although her seat was up as high as it would go, her knees were practically bumping her arms every time she pedaled. So we suprised the kids by taking them bicycle shopping today.

I say shopping, but we didn't look around too much. Ron and I did a little reseach online, found that Walmart was by far the least expensive, and narrowed down their options to only a couple choices. I can't believe some people spend $200 on a bike for a kid! Thankfully our kids don't care about that and were super excited over their choices. They both needed new bike helmets, so we got those, too. (Danielle's was held together with duct tape!)

They spent the evening happily riding around the neighborhood with their friends.

Butterfly Visitor

A question mark butterfly visited my lantana plant tonight. It was quite a treat since I've never seen one in my yard before. Here are some pictures. If you click on the first one and look at its hind wing (you may have to enlarge it), you can see how these butterflies get their name.

Spray Park Fun

Danielle has been talking about getting her hair cut for a few weeks. I told her she had to wait until baton and softball were over so it would still be long enough for ponytails with cute ribbons. :) Everything finished up this past weekend, so I took her to get it cut yesterday. Although it needs washed and brushed, it looks really cute.

She is a little more sunkissed now. Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind. Personally, I think she's beautiful and the freckles just complete the look.

Can't believe how much older the kids are looking. :(