Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies!

 Kaitlyn received a living butterfly habitat for Christmas.  We waited until early April before ordering the caterpillars for the habitat.

Here is Kaitlyn holding one of the two containers filled with tiny caterpillars.  They were about the size of a staple.

 The next few pictures show the caterpillars growing.  Kaitlyn and I took the pictures with my phone.

We were instructed to keep the caterpillars out of direct sunlight in a 65 degree to 77 degree F room.  We opted for the basement because the temperature is pretty constant.

The following set of pictures shows the caterpillars forming their chrysalises in which we needed to wait 7-10 days before moving them to the butterfly habitat.

After waiting just over a week, daddy and I transfered the chrysalises to the butterfly habitat.

Our first two butterflies hatched within a few days of being in the habitat.  Kaitlyn was over the moon excited.

 By the end of the night, we had three butterflies.

 After hatching it takes two hours for their wings to harden.

 Kaitlyn and I prepared fresh flowers from outside, sugar water and watermelon for the newly hatched butterflies.

 Kaitlyn set up a 'bed' to watch the butterflies.

The next day after school, Kaitlyn and I discovered she had six butterflies.  We moved their habitat to the kitchen and turned it upright.  We also replenished their food.

As of my typing this blog, we have seven painted lady butterflies.  We may release them with Kaitlyn's class, but if not, we'll take them to the park and maybe release them with friends.

This was such a great experience for Kaitlyn to watch the transformation.  Daddy and I thought it was pretty cool too!