Butterfly Garden~ to have or not to have???

I'm sure almost everyone has seen the commercial for getting your very own "Live Butterfly Garden"

Yeah right, PASS!!

Every time the commercial came on my daughter was hooked! Of course TV makes it look amazing, fun and wonderful! Go figure, here comes Kiley Jo, she wrote down the website address to help me out!! Grrr...yes, I ordered them!

Oh, but what a great deal for me...since I ordered "today" I got 5 extra caterpillars for Free!!

Hmm...I was thinking I needed something for free since it said they were $19.95 and of course with shipping it was over $30 bucks!

Not even a week later, UPS was knocking on the door with these tiny little fuzzy critters. 

The box had the caterpillars (obviously), Fact sheets and what to do, a fun sticker page and a butterfly "home".

Freak mode!!..the caterpillars DID NOT MOVE! Surely they are dead! Great, my daughters tender heart will be broken! I should have read the paperwork right away...this is normal!

We began to see a little movement, I think?!?! Very little if any!!

 They must be at night because the "food" in the bottom was being eaten!

YES, definitely moving around! Whew!

7 days into having these little guys {oh, and girls} they grew 3 times their original size! Within another 3 days or so after that, they crawled up to the top of the lid and transformed into Chrysalides. Seriously, this is getting pretty cool...uh hum, I guess...!!

 Coming to the end of the week...You've got to be kidding!!!....Is that a butterfly in there??

Nope, FIVE so far!!

One night we sat for over 2 hours in front of them waiting for a butterfly to emerge...Ugg! We had to leave for 45 minutes and that's when it happened!! We really wanted to see that part!

ALL 10 became beautiful butterflies!!!

We kept them for a few days, waited for good weather and then trotted out to let them be free!!

This was the coolest part ever...can ya tell I'm starting to like this idea?...

They crawled on her finger and sat there flapping their tiny wings! Then just like that, POOF, off they flew into the big blue sky!! AMAZING!

My husband even joined in this kind of fun!!

This little gal, Violet, {yes, my daughter named every one of them} had a little problem. Somewhere along the line, she lost a large part of one of her wings. She can't fly...{sad sad face}

Kiley asks, "What happens to a butterfly that can't fly?" Oh no...how do you answer that nicely??

You don't, you give the facts and guess what??...

     You have a new pet!!!

                          It's been almost 3 weeks now... Lil' Ms.Violet gets let out twice a day to play in the grass and flit around. Fresh sugar water and an orange wedge are put in her home daily, along with fresh flowers for her to enjoy!

I tear up every time when I think of how sweet and nurturing our daughter is! I hope she keeps that tender heart forever!

Since having little Vi, I've been on the Internet trying to find a way to "help her". I found a very interesting U-tube video..."How to glue a Monarch wing back on"

Crazy, I know!!! It's pretty amazing and believe it or not, I found Violets entire wing piece in the bottom of the mesh house. I kept it for...I don't know what reason!! But we have it and might just attempt a little miracle!! If so, you'll see it too!!

For now though, Violet seems pretty happy hanging out under the protective watch of her "mommy"!

Final decision...5 thumbs up!!! This was the best purchase ever! I would spend twice what I did to have this experience for my daughter {and my hubby and I}. We're both over 40 and haven't seen anything like it! Truly amazing and a must have for anyone with kids!!!!