Grasshopper

We spotted this mammoth of a grasshopper from the inside while looking out of the living room window this afternoon before nap time. He was huge! 

Gabby immediately requested we catch him. Did I mention he was huge!? I tried so hard to channel my inner Aunt Becky to catch this lil guy for her but, oh my, was it hard. Thankfully Gabby thought of our butterfly net and ran inside to get it. Success! We scooped him up and placed him in a breathable container with grass and apple peelings (we had to look up what grasshoppers eat and apparently along with grass they also like vegetables and fruits of different sorts).  

We invited him in for a little visit. 

It took Josiah a bit of time but he finally held the container and examined the grasshopper closely. 

He made the funniest of faces and would chuckle every time it moved. So cute!  

Mikey insisted on taking the little guy with him to his secrete hide-out where he naps (this is fairly new) so that he could continue to observe him. I, for one, decided telling him no was not worth the battle and, two, realized it would help ease the dreadful naptime coaxing routine so I said yes. And of course, under the conditions that he did not open the lid. I was a bit worried but thankfully he obliged.  I triple wish I had taken a picture after he fell asleep with that container lying so close to his sweet sleeping face. Oh, what a memory. 

Here are a few pictures of another (or perhaps the same) grasshopper we found about a week later. We noticed, this time, he had wings. A huge flying grasshopper! 

In the top right picture, Gabriella was trying to take the grasshopper away from Josiah and he was not having it. 

Everyone was much less uncomfortable with the big guy this time. Mikey was quite interested. So much that after we let him go he ran after and caught him again and when he brought him over to show me, he was missing one entire back leg. I felt so very bad for him. I'm so glad he has alternate means of transportation, poor guy.