They're Back...

News Flash: I'm a science nerd.

That being said, I'm sure you're not surprised that I'm a little excited about all of the cicadas that are erupting in Middle Tennessee at this very moment.

Cicadas are pretty cool little creatures. The females lay eggs under the bark of a tree. The eggs hatch and the newborn nymphs burrow into the ground where they hang out for 13 years (17 in some cases)! Then, they tunnel out of the ground, shed their exoskeleton, and emerge as adults to start the cycle all over again.

Can you imagine taking a 13 year nap? Sounds fantastic to me. Just think of all of the things that have happened in the last 13 years. For starters, in 1998, Bill Clinton was president and our country had a budget surplus. Personally, off the top of my head in the last 13 years I graduated high school, graduated college, got married, got a PhD, had a baby, moved to Nashville, started carrying a purse etc, etc.

But, back to the cicadas. I took these pictures at work yesterday.

All Grown Up

Discarded Exoskeletons

Cool, aren't they. And, I hear they're good eats...

As Promised

This picture is so sweet, I get a cavity just by looking at it. 

Harper is on the bottom right. Click on the picture to see a version that you can zoom in on to get a better look. 

A Working Mom's Lament

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I am heading up to Cincinnati for a few days to attend a work conference. Part of me is very much looking forward to seeing old friends and hearing good science. But, part of me is also sad because I am going to miss Harper's very first dance recital on Saturday.

Luckily, Harper has an awesome dad who is going to assume the role of stage dad while I'm gone (and by the way, did you know that he changed every single one of Harper's diapers while we stayed in the hospital after she was born? Well, he did and I'm going to remember that fact when he tells me he gave her candy for breakfast...).

Don't feel too bad for me, though. I take her to her dance lesson every week and I've seen her routine dozens of times. Tonight was group picture night (I'll post it next week). They also got to do a dress rehearsal run though of their dance for all of the parents. I think Harper got a little distracted by all of the flashing cameras. But, she's still the best dancing princess as far as I'm concerned.

Iris Garden

We made a pit stop on the way to school this morning. 

The Only Thing Ants Are Good For

The peonies on the side of our house are blooming. Legend has it that ants are needed to crawl through the buds and open the petals. This isn't actually true. Peonies will bloom with or without ants. But, I'll ignore that and give this one to the ants. Really, what else do they have going for them?

Puddle Jumper

Really glad I put her rain boots on before we left for church today...

Zoo Day

It was way too nice to not be outside today. So, we went to one of our favorite hangouts, the zoo! As we were getting parked, I asked Harper which animal she wanted to see today. Very authoritatively, she said "The elephant and I want him to spray water out of his nose." The first part we could definitely do, but I wasn't so sure about that last part. However, when we got to the elephants, they were congregating around the watering hole throwing mud on themselves to keep cool. Close enough!

Next up were the flamingos. I always like the flamingos. They remind me of Pinkalicious, a cute kids book where the main character eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink (kind of like how flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp and algae that contain pink and orange pigments).

I usually judge the success of our zoo outings by whether or not we can avoid the petting zoo area. Today was not my lucky day.

After a good hand washing, we leisurely strolled through the rest of zoo and I practiced the fine art of cell phone nature photography.