Clara's First Blog Post

It's been over a year since I've posted anything which almost always means that we're doing well and that life is simply full and busy.  It's both, but also very joyous.  

When I first started writing regularly in the blog, after Clara was born, I used to imagine a day when she (and any other future children) might be able to be contributors.  It may be awhile before Clara is typing her own essays, and who knows, maybe she won't ever have any interest.  But I thought it would be sweet to share these pages from her summer journal after we returned from a long weekend in Charleston.  

The literacy teacher in me is delighting in watching my own child develop as a reader and writer.  These are precious moments that I've watched in other people's children countless times.  Getting to see the baby I've read hours to in my lap and the child who was - it seems like yesterday - just scribbling with a crayon on paper now writing complete stories is a new kind of magic.  

So, here's Clara's first blog post, along with a handful of photos from our time in the lowcountry last weekend.  

(Last weekend we went to Charleston to visit Rick and Charlotte and JJ.  I liked catching blue crabs, swimming in the pool, going to the aquarium and kayaking with Daddy.) 

If these pictures seem familiar to you, check out our trip to this same place three years ago, when Clara was the age that Eloise is now.

Butterflies

As I mentioned in this post about Clara at four, she really loves animals but especially bugs.  Mama K had a fabulous birthday present for her this year.  Caterpillars!  We received in the mail a box that looked like this:

And inside was a canister of food and five teeny tiny caterpillars (that I was sure were already dead).  Over the next several weeks they ate their way to plump and climbed to the top of the jar and made chrysalides.  We transferred the chrysalides to a butterfly home and then a few weeks later, out they popped.  We released them in our driveway.

Clara, of course, loved this whole experience.  But I must say, the adults were pretty enthralled too.  It had been many many years since I'd watched the whole process up close like this and it's nothing short of miraculous.  The reminder of life during the Easter season was especially powerful.   We had such fun, I think we'll order more caterpillars again next year!