Friday, May 20, 2011

The caterpillars are here!


We're planning on using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life for summer science fun.  We're still waiting on its arrival (it's backordered at Rainbow Resource), but part of that program includes raising butterflies from caterpillars.  I ordered the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden from Amazon and redeemed our caterpillar coupon on their website (FYI if you buy the Butterfly Garden --- Insect Lore charges $5 shipping and handling when you place your caterpillar order.  This is in addition to the amount you paid for the kit).  It said it would take 1-3 weeks for the caterpillars to arrive.  I placed our order online on May 14th, and they arrived today on May 20th.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled.  We had to open the box immediately!
There are five caterpillars inside and they all appear to have made it out alive after their FedEx transport.
Although they were initially a little sluggish, a couple of them were climbing up around the lid about 20 minutes after we opened them up.
Red decided she wants to keep a journal with her observations about the caterpillars.  They are supposed to be eating and growing for about 7-10 days before they begin building their chrysalids.
The arrival of the caterpillars was a pleasant surprise since Red had her dental work this morning.  She was sedated for it which was amusing.  Right when the sedative started kicking in, she said dreamily, "I hear music..." and started giggling.  Her behavior reminded me of when the older sister in the movie Sixteen Candles takes the muscle relaxer before her wedding.  She also had a Princess Bride moment.  Start playing the clip at 1:54 to see what I was dealing with: 


The actual procedure went well for her, but was tough for me as mom.  With sedation, they don't numb you.  I guess they figure you won't remember it anyway and since she had cavities that needed to be filled on both sides of her mouth (didn't know this until this morning) it would have taken two visits instead of one if they had numbed the area.  She cried which broke my heart, but she seems completely fine now and it's only a few hours later.  Hopefully, this will be the one and only time she needs work done on her baby teeth.  I'll be documenting the caterpillars' growth so there are more photos to come!

2 comments:

find my blog said...

I just ordered our caterpillars from the same place - it was Eva's bday pressie from Jim's sister's family. We post dated the shipment until after school is out - June 10th. That way we can focus on the little critters after school and dance stuff is over. It'll be fun to compare our findings! :)

Carri said...

Awwww, poor Red.