Wednesday, September 4, 2013

First day of school!

Yesterday was Courtney's first day of FIRST GRADE! And she came to my house afterwards, so I got to hear all about it. It sounded like it was a great day, and she was excited to go back today. She seemed very impressed with something called "monkey moola". 

The bus driver surprised me and didn't pull into the driveway like I thought he was going to, so I wasn't close enough or focused in for a good photo, but here she comes!


Later on, I got a better shot, after she'd been here awhile and had changed into her flip-flops, because it was pretty warm out. I'm still loving the hairdo!


On the way out to meet her bus, I took some pics, since I had the camera along. This was on my sedum bush in the wildflower bed:


Nope, it's not a monarch butterfly. It's a viceroy! I thought it seemed a bit small for a monarch, and after seeing the pics in the computer, I decided it didn't look quite right, so I did a search for a look-alike, and I very quickly found it to be the viceroy. (Dale would've known that right away, I bet!)


Here is a blog post I came across comparing the monarch and the viceroy, and then comparing them to people. :)

Also on the sedum was this big, somewhat wicked-looking bug. Anyone know what it is? Wasp? Hornet?


My peppers are turning red. Just thought you'd want to know that. Ha.


Speaking of monarchs, though, Courtney and I have been watching for the caterpillars. Monarch butterflies seem to be a rare thing this year. I've hardly seen any. However, today Courtney and I did see one near some milkweed plants, so we went searching. I found two of these:


Did you notice the tiny white thing? Below is a closer look. I'm pretty sure it's a monarch egg.


Courtney took one home, and I kept one here. They take about 4 days to hatch, so we'll know soon if that's really what they are.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Courtney looks so grown up!
Gwen

The Luedtke Family said...

Have fun in first grade! Simon and Norah have Cat Cash, to be used for Fun Fridays. Hope she gets some Monkey Moola!

Grandma G said...

I know, Gwen! How did this happen?! :)

Yep, Becky... I think Monkey Moola and Cat Cash must be about the same thing. Fridays sound pretty exciting. :)

The Luedtke Family said...

Well, Fun Friday's happen only once a quarter. From what I hear, it is really . . . "fun". A new principal this year has started this program. If you stay on "green" for the whole quarter, you get to attend Fun Friday for free. But, if you make a mistake, which everyone does and move to yellow or red, then you have to "pay" for Fun Friday with your Cat Cash. This should help the older kids as the reward has value.