Caterpillars!

It's a sad day when you realize your kids don't have access to NORMAL bugs like caterpillars.  Something weird is in the air (or Phoenix has a plague) because there are thousands of caterpillars descending from mountains all over. After an early morning text from a friend, we ditched our school books and went to a nearby park, which is at the base of a mountain, to find the grass, concrete and dirt swarming with these adorable, fast-moving creatures.

I came prepared with bowls and Press-n-Seal for the kids to collect their new pets.

Ryan had no problem picking them up and putting them in trees, on bushes and on signs.

"Go climb this tree, little caterpillar!"

"EW! It pooped on me!"

"I'll just wipe it on my jeans."

Other than my local readers, I betcha don't have signs like this at your public park!  Rattlesnakes don't scare me as much as coyotes, which we see periodically at night around here. They just walk around like they own the neighborhood. Like we built our homes in their natural habitat or something. The nerve! Desert wildlife freaks me out. Oh, who am I kidding - ALL wildlife freaks me out.

Ryan finally manipulated convinced Kaylin to pick up a creepy crawly. He may or may not have bribed her with sleeping in his top bunk to get her to do the deed.

I snapped this picture a split second before Jason wildly waved his arms to be free of the creature inching up his arm.

The kids have been captivated by their new pets for hours today. I'm going to borrow a butterfly-home-net-thingy from a friend and we're going to feed them in hopes that they transform before our eyes. From what I hear, these types of caterpillars turn into moths, not butterflies, but we'll have to see for ourselves. If they survive, that is!