caterpillars and such

Today I went outside with Rebecca, and while inspecting my tomato plants for any new ripe tomatoes, I came across these obnoxious, ugly things attached to my plants:

Later I came inside and looked them up.  They're called Hornworms, and they eat tomato plants.  They also attract a certain kind of wasps, who lay their eggs inside them.  Yuck.  The white things on the outside are the larve of the wasps.  Gross.

Yesterday was our church picnic.  It was a fun time, but right at the end, the kids were thrilled to see this rising above the trees. 

It wasn't a part of our picnic.  It just happened to be nearby, and it's the closest I've ever been to a hot air balloon.  Rachel was thrilled because she had never seen one before.

And while I was taking picture of the ugly caterpillars, Rebecca wanted me to take her picture. 

There's my sweet little stinker!