The girls are experiencing a new and exciting aspect of rural living; more insects and wildlife! We can watch beautiful birds fly by from our large outdoor patio and there are many, many insects that interest the girls. Emily is desperate for a pet, of any kind, so I let her keep a cricket that she caught last night in a jar. She let it out this morning, for humanitarian reasons. The grasshoppers get very big around here, as you can see. Maddie doesn’t mind holding one, but this one was too big for Emily’s liking:

If you’re not paying attention, they’ll keep climbing up from your hand to your head!

Here is a photo of tonight’s visitor, a preying mantis: