The Adventures of Billy Rainbow

Although we have a boy, we don't do a lot of bug related things yet. Yesterday marked Princess's first attempt at bug catching. Princess and Brooklyn were playing in the backyard yesterday and came across a little creature, which, at first they were scared of, and wanted me to smash.



I examined it closer and discovered that it was a walking stick bug. I told them what it was, and they decided they didn't want to smash it after all, but wanted to play with it. We captured it in a sandcastle bucket, and Princess and Brooklyn went to work making provisions for their new little pet. At first they wanted to bring it in the house, but I vetoed that idea, so they just kept it in its little castle home outside. And heaven forbid that their little bug go nameless. A discussion commenced about what to name the poor victim. Princess, ever the girl, wanted this stick bug to have the most beautiful name she could think of, so she suggested Rainbow. Brooklyn wanted it to be named Billy. I have to give them kudos because they cooperated and compromised on their own, and that is how Billy Rainbow came to be.



Periodically they would come in the house and say, "what does Billy Rainbow eat?" I didn't really know, so I told them he ate grass. No sooner had I said that then they pulled up almost of the living grass in our backyard and stuck it next to and inside of Billy's home. Princess and Brooklyn were excited to feed the little guy, but I think still a little wary of its bug-iness, so one of them kept a hand on the top of the castle at all times. I'm not sure if it was to keep him from escaping, or keep him from crawling up one of their arms. Maybe a little of both, but needless to say, Billy Rainbow was trapped in there pretty tight with his handfuls of weeds and grass.



Apparently, they decided that Billy Rainbow did eat some of the grass because then they told me he was thirsty. I luckily stopped them before they poured a bucket of water into the castle for the bug to drink, because I wanted this to be "The Adventures of Billy Rainbow" not "The Tragic Tale of Billy Rainbow." I don't know a lot about walking stick bugs, but I'm pretty sure they can't swim.





Billy Rainbow kept the girls occupied for quite a while, that is until they decided to go back to Princess's room and dump out every toy Princess owns. Having a history of doing this, I had told them not to make piles of stuff. Well, when I went in and my heart sank and I asked them why they had made piles of stuff, they answered so innocently that they had not made piles of stuff, they had gone on a trip. So I kinda wish they had played with Billy Rainbow longer. (Sidenote to self: now warn them they shouldn't make piles of stuff OR go on trips). And when I went outside this morning, Billy Rainbow was still there, having become comfortable in his castle home, sitting atop a grass mountain.