Our Butterfly Project

When my parents came in town earlier this month they gave the boys a butterfly kit.  The idea is that you are given caterpillars, which then go into a chrysalis and then you watch them become a butterfly.  Noah and Aiden were really excited.

We had caterpillars shipped to our house in a container that also held their food.

Then about 7-10 later, the caterpillars form chrysalis.  It is neat to see them hanging from the top of the cup.  You then have to move the chrysalis from the cup and pin them to the side of the butterfly enclosure. 

After another 7-10 days the butterflies start to emerge.  The chrysalis actually get darker and darker leading up to when they come out.  I was really hoping we would get to see the magic, but we missed it.  All three times!

 This was our first butterfly to emerge.  So pretty!

We had one butterfly emerge for 3 consecutive days.  The boys were pumped when they saw a new butterfly each day.  After a couple of days of enjoying them, we decided today was a good day to let them go free.

This was our last butterfly to leave us.  I think he was hanging around for good reason. 
He flew out, settled into some grass, and then the next thing I saw was a bird swoop down and pick him up to eat him.  This next picture is a picture of the bird sitting on the fence eating our butterfly.

SERIOUSLY!
I wonder if anyone else has ever experienced that one.  Of course, we would. 
Who lets a butterfly go only to watch it be eaten as an afternoon snack moments later? 
That would be Those Bruce Boys.
Thankfully Noah had turned his back and didn't see all this go down.  He probably would have been scarred for life had he seen it.
I can't make this stuff up.