Butterflies

Today we took Sting's advice and "set them free."  The caterpillars turned to chrysalides (again, a real word), and hung from their spots, so Daddy transplanted them into the "butterfly garden," a larger facility where we could watch them come out of their shells.  That they did, on Saturday, one by one.  We got to see it happen once, although just with one of them.  Since then, they've been fluttering about inside their new habitat.  The plan was to release them somewhat earlier, but the weather has been uncooperative:  downpours.  Yes, it's still raining a lot.

This afternoon, it stopped raining for a bit.  The sun came out, and we found a perfect opportunity to release our friends back into the wild.  Or, release them into the wild for the first time.  We did it near the flowering bushes in the front yard so they'd have some quick snacks if they were hungry.  One by one, Mommy put her hand deep into the habitat, and carefully allowed the butterflies to perch on her hand or fingers.  Then, slowly, she'd lift her hands out to Madison's delight.  You can see her expression above - she's ready for them to jump out and fly off.  And that they did, one by one.  It was a sweet moment, one that the three of us enjoyed.  We may have missed the butterfly release earlier - the one that's at the park in Gainesville.  But this was a bit more personal, as just a few weeks ago we received the caterpillars in the mail and have been watching them closely.

The other big event of the day was "THE GAINESVILLE SCHOOL OF BALLET."  If this sounds stuffy, it probably is.  It's like college for ballet, where we start getting serious about dance.  This is where your teacher is somewhat like a drill sergeant, or at least that's what it might be like if it were up to my imagination.  I've seen too many of these ballet television shows and movies where the teacher is this uber-strict woman with a big stick to swat ballerinas who can't arabesque in the proper form.

Not that any of this happened to Madison.  She actually had a great time today.  It's just that we have a sense of things turning up a notch on the "form" department here, whereas up until now, it's been more about flash and show.  As Mommy has a lot of experience with proper ballerina postures, there's a sense that Madison will come away from this camp learning the traditional proper form a bit more.  Daddy is all for it.  As long as Madison is enjoying it, it's important to get the basic elements right, which are somewhat universal.

Ballet camp was at Brenau, which marks the first class there that anyone in our family has ever had.  It was in this building that was located within a maze of parking lots which were attached in a way that must look amusing from overhead.  If you didn't know your way around, it would be easy to get lost, or stuck.  Fortunately, Mommy visited the location last week.

Inside, dozens of tiny dancers waited for different classes.  That piano you hear - the one that typically accompanies dancers - played in such a way that it echoed throughout the halls.  Inside, the rooms were lined with mirrored walls and ballet bars.  And they were air conditioned too.  And class started exactly on time!

Daddy was a bit intimidated, actually.  But Madison dives headlong into just about anything.  And sure enough, two hours later, she emerged unscathed and with a huge smile on her face.  She had a great time.  If she enjoys it this week, we're considering this being a part of her schedule next year.  We'll see how that goes of course.

After ballet, we did a bit of piano at home.  Not much, as she hasn't played in a while.  She nailed her music recital number, of course.  But she couldn't play some of the older and simpler songs, which was kind of funny when you consider it.  We'll try to keep up music practice throughout the summer so she won't be too rusty the first of the school year.

Next we went to the library.  It was turning out to be a busy day!  There, we picked up some new books for Madison's reading program.  We also submitted online the first sixteen books she's read - only fifty-nine to go!  We picked up a bunch of new books - Daddy got one too.  And also a few movies, of course.  One of our DVDs is about Annie Oakley, which seems to be our present course for a future theme:  Cowboys and Cowgirls.  You'll probably be reading more about that in the days to come.

We got home, and played some games for a bit - but Daddy wanted to watch a movie tonight.  Not just any movie, of course.  THE movie.  It was time for Madison to watch "The Love Bug," and she really enjoyed the race at the end.  So did Mommy and Daddy, of course.  This is one of our favorites.  Daddy has always said he'd get a Herbie car if he could, and some day that might come true.  Madison was really into the race, particularly when the bad guys were ahead.  She actually said, "Go, Herbie go!"

That's what we've been saying for years!