Once Upon a Time a Butterfly came to visit... landed on my purse

My grandmother lives just a hop away from my place. And in the summer when we have lotsa time, we walk over and see her pretty regularly. En route to the park, back form the park, or just to go by her place. The new spring like weather has inspired this post. I was reviewing my flickr photo hosting page, for this blog, and realized I hadn't included these photos from a few years back.

Now we all love grandma, but she can be a bit overwhelming. You think I talk a lot? HA! And we have these great little moments, when I want quiet, to observe the kids, or answer their questions - and here comes Babcia yelling from the other room the start of her story and she will continue and finish as she approaches wherever you are. 

One afternoon in late summer - baby girl was about one years old, younger son was four - we returned from the park and visited Babcia. And as we walked up the back stairs a Butterfly landed on my purse. Baby girl noticed first. We were in awe. 

We stood there observing the little creature, catching some sun, and not afraid at all. So we sat on the deck, quietly, and we didn't tell grandma we were there yet. I love grandma but she would come out all full of life and commotion and our new found friend would fly away. 

Baby girl first noticed this swallowtail butterfly that landed on my purse.

So we sat, and observed him. He opened and closed his wings just a few times, and then kept them open. Catching the warm sun rays. This was really an amazing moment. We were outside for about 10 mintutes - which when watching a butterfly are L-O-N-G minutes....but everyone was enjoying this. 

He sat thru many photos. 

And then it happened. Babcia came out on the desk. What are you doing here? Why didn't you come in? (Iam meanwhile putting my finger to my lips, ssshhhhhhhhhhh... yeah - right - liek that will work!) "Babcia Sshhhh" the kids say.  Finally she quiets down. and we point to the butterfly. She just can't understand why we are sitting and watching it. I love her but this was a quiet time.

LIFE IS STILL EXCITING AT OUR HOUSE! 

With more insects. . . 

Quick 2021 update - we have taken our bugs online and on youtube. Visit AMI Studios Chicago if you want to see our insect videos - you can watch them here. 

AMI Studios Chicago

It's mostly baby girls videos and here slime making, she spends time with friends on coloring activities and make good choices while having fun. During the covid stay at home orders - she had many many many facetime pandemic playdates - we made time work for us and not be bored.

So we went inside. I left my purse, and butterfly, on the porch. I had some coffee, the kids played. When we returned 20 minutes or so later he was still there! This was before our bug collecting days began - lucky swallowtail aye? 

Eventually we had to leave, and so we put him near the ground by the garden.

I put my purse in the yard, closer to her sweet smelling flower garden. I explained to the kids that he would smell the flowers and leave my purse. Sure enough...

He finally flew off. 

He flew off - and we watched him unroll his probocsis (tongue like mouth part) to drink some nectar. All these fancy science words are exactly the ones I used to explain the details to my then 4 year old and 2 year old. 

And enjoyed Babcia's garden

What an awesome collection of moments. 

NEW UPDATED :: YOUTUBE CHANNEL INFO

Our family has had many adventures through the years. Mom, the @Minstr0Interior had an a-ha moment . . .  Suddenly I See what we will have filled our life with, ADVENTURES! We travel, craft, sing, dance, collect insects and spend loads of time together. Sometimes too much time together. Our kids have recently begun to document their own adventures, and so this channel was born. Enjoy our adventures. Or not. WANT MORE? If there is a blog post accompanying this video we will share it here. Sometimes we will include the ingredients list of the craft or recipe, or the itinerary of our trip. In the meantime click play. 

From our family: 👍 + 🙃 + ❤️ ( Thumbs up, emoji face, hearts! )

See It Live >>> 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2mGpujQIVgxdfTImFnQuLA

Make Mistakes. Breathe, reflect, enjoy the moment, and Laugh.Out.Loud.