Friday was Cicada Day

Friday morning was a beautiful day for the girls to go swinging in the back yard. At least that's what I thought when I sent them outside so I could take my shower.


A few moments later, however, Emma and Abby came running back inside screaming about the scary looking bug with the funny white bottom that was on the swingset.

Now you must understand that only the day before, I was trying to emphasize the importance of obeying Mommy immediately and had given them different scenarios where obeying right away would be potentially life-saving. One of these stories involved a poisonous spider sitting on their shoulder without their knowing, and Mommy saying "Don't move!"

So when I heard the girls coming in with their wild story about the bug, my first impulse was to simply excuse it and chalk it up to over-imagination. But the girls kept insisting, so I thought I should investigate. Here is Emma pointing to one of the bugs.


Can you tell what it is? If not, here's a closer look at what I first saw when I walked outside (still in my jammies with no shower, I might add. I must be braver than I thought).


It took me a few seconds to realize that the girls had found not one, but two molting cicadas on their swingset. The first one was already out of his skin and drying in the sun. Although, by the description the girls gave me I think they actually saw it emerging. The girls didn't seem entirely convinced that it was safe, but once I explained what it was, they relaxed a bit. (Although they still thought it was an ugly bug.)


The second cicada was just starting to emerge when I grabbed the camera. I was able to capture the moment with several pictures. Here are the two I liked best.


I had never seen a cicada being "born" before, so it was pretty exciting. We had our own little science/nature lesson going on! Once the first cicada's wings were sufficiently dry, it crawled into the shade on the underneath side of the slide and stayed there until late afternoon. This picture gives a good glance at the wings and body.


We were all fascinated. That is to say, all of us except Lizzie. She was much more interested in tearing a paper towel into little bits using her two bottom teeth. Yes, I said two! Her second tooth arrived early in the week but isn't big enough to see in a picture yet. She was quite determined as you can plainly see.


Why did she have a paper towel, you say? For wiping up spit up, of course! (Although in this case it was just a teething towel.) Don't worry. She didn't swallow it. At least not that I noticed.....