Butterfly in the Sky, I can fly twice as high!

We've been singing the Reading Rainbow song around here for weeks now.  My mom has a great blog where she shares her magnificent gardening experiences with the rest of the world.  She has always loved Monarch Butterfly's but has never been lucky enough to spot any in her gardens.  While we have been staying with my parents, Ben has also become intrigued with Monarch Butterfly's and decided to do a little research and locate a caterpillar for my mom.  Eventually he found several for her and we have been watching them all hatch into butterfly's for the last month.  Check out This Grandmother's Garden for the whole story, complete with an amazing video of one of the butterfly's leaving the cacoon.

As a sidenote-one of the caterpillars got lose one day, not sure if it was on the counter or the floor or what, but next thing I know Norah is toddling over to me with something black in her little pinchers.  Poor caterpillar didn't even see it coming!  Sadly it did not live but it was somewhat funny as Norah had no idea what it even was, she just was excited to have discovered it. And then a few weeks later my mom thought Norah would be ok holding one of the butterfly's.  Within seconds Norah clamped down on the butterfly and we scrambled to pry it out of her hands.  Happy to report the butterfly survived.  She know's all about butterfly's now and squeals with delight when she spots one outside.

Britax

oh how we love Britax.  My sister in law Linda let us borrow her infant chaperone when Norah was born.  It was so convenient and Norah slept in it often.  It was very unusual for Norah to cry in the car or out of the car when she was in this amazing carseat.  Actually I guess I don't have anything to compare it to, since Norah was our first baby. But I am hoping to get another infant chaperone for the next babe when that day comes, should it ever.  In the meantime, couldn't pass up this giveaway for a free carseat...Check it out here.

Labor Day Hiking

Does this girl look like her Daddy or what? :)

Mom and Dad

It was a perfect day for a hike, so we took advantage of the Holiday and headed outdoors.  We went with my parents and Emilee up Albion Basin and hiked up to Cecret Lake.  It was pretty neat, many others thought so too.  I had never been hiking with so many others in my life.  Luckily we started pretty early so it wasn't as crowded until we were on our way out. 

 This was Norah's first adventure in a back pack.  We borrowed the pack from Ben's bro's fam, it was perfect for the job and Norah loved it!  We took her hiking a few times in a tummy pack when she was younger, but she was never really alert or awake for those adventures, so this was pretty exciting to her.  She did fall asleep on the way down the mountain though, which was good because we were really pushing it with her nap time.  All in all it was a great day!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

These were just too delicious not to share.  Head on over to Our Sweet Lemons for the recipe.  I found this recipe last week and I'd been dying to make it ever since.  Finally the stars aligned last night and I had all the ingredients and even better, a sleeping baby.  They did take a bit of work, but they were worth it, so yummy.  I am trying to limit myself to just two today...we'll see if I can make it!