Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Butterfly House Was a Bust

Last week we went back to the VIC, because they had opened the Butterfly House this month. The Butterfly House is normally full of (drumroll, please) BUTTERFLIES! Can you believe it? But we noticed a distinct lack of them when we visited. A friendly volunteer came up to us and apologized, because a chipmunk had gotten in the previous night and ate all the butterflies! There were only 2 left. Thankfully, they had lots of caterpillars of various kinds, so soon they should have plenty of monarchs, painted ladies, swallowtails, lunas and polyphemus moths. We'll have to go back in a few weeks.



We did hit the trails while we were there, and we did the 1.4 mile Boreal Life Trail, which winds through the forest and into a bog, with a boardwalk over the bog part. It was beautiful. We saw lots and lots of pitcher plants, and many were in flower. The flower looks sort of like a tulip, and has a waxen or almost plastic look to it. Very interesting. The Pitcher plant is carnivorous, and we were able to see insects inside several of them.






(Boy, Isaiah really looks grouchy in all those pictures! He's a bit camera shy.)

I sent in our final quarterly report on the 23rd, and I am really looking forward to a break from schoolwork. Lydia and Levi started swimming lessons this week, Monday through Friday at Postwood Park, for 6 weeks. A daily 60 mile round trip does not thrill me, but it is a wonderful program, and only costs a $20 donation per kid. It's our 4th year doing the lessons, and we all love them. And we're making great memories of days at the beach!
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2 comments:

  1. Lory HowlettJuly 22, 2010 at 8:26 PM

    Hi Renee, thanks for posting on the blog! You know, it hadn't occurred to me about the dresses not having sleeves. Based on what we saw in Sidama, I think the little pillow case dresses will be fine for little girls. Maybe we will get/collect t-shirts for the bigger girls to wear under their dresses. Since summer is coming to an end, I bet they could picked up at Kohls or Target, etc. for cheap!? What do you think?

    We haven't figured out the "taking things over" vs. "taking monetary donations" over piece yet. As you know, our luggage space will be limited, but I think we will probably collect some targeted items! There are few projects in the works--materials to screen the windows in the new building (malaria!), money to purchase metal bunkbeds for the orphanage, money to purchase livestock for the widows as they support their kids, parents, etc. Please stay posted, as I will be posting the info!

    thanks and God bless,
    Lory

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  2. Lory HowlettAugust 5, 2010 at 9:12 AM

    Hi Renee,
    I don't have an email address for you...or are you on Facebook (which I don't "do" religiously, but it is a good way to send messages to people)! Anyway, I got your message about shirts for the boys. If you find some new shirts you would like to send, that would be great. One of our travelers is hoping to sew some shirts for boys, but she is tight on money and time!
    love, Lory

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