Faerie Beds

Little John's first hike wasn't much more than a mile, but the scenery was gorgeous. (See the whole hike on Flickr by clicking any picture here on Ellajohn.) We found milkweed pods--ripening faerie beds--with silk inside waiting to be knit into faerie covers. I was looking for caterpillars on the milkweed leaves, and we were lucky enough to find one so we could talk about metamorphosis. Ella recognizes the monarch butterfly, so maybe we can learn the names of some of the others. We talked about migration, which E thinks is when the butterflies go to the other side of the mountain. John slept through the whole thing, but was very cute in the safari sunhat. It was his first ride in the front pack, and although he is small I have to get used to that weight on my chest.