Annie Banannie

Ack!  I'm having a moment of sheer terror.  A co-worker texted this morning to ask if I could come help with registration this week.  She wanted me to come in today but I managed to push it off until Thursday.  Seriously, I want to cry.  I am totally unprepared for school to start.  Our travels and adventures have been great, but I need more lazy days with my children.  Days with nothing to do but catch butterflies.

Bugs are still Annika's greatest love.  She can entertain herself all afternoon searching for her "friends."

While butterflies and moths are favorites, she is also plenty happy to collect snails.  Their slow pace makes them the perfect candidates for relocation into her homemade habitats.  (Jason managed to convince her that our lawn waste bin is the perfect place for them to reside long term.)

Just so you know, she doesn't discriminate against the shell-less variety.  One April afternoon I heard Annika joyfully squeal: "A slug's in my shoe.  And he's alive!  I think he thought it was a safe habitat.  Let's make him an Easter egg."  I wonder if any other slug has ever been gifted an Easter egg.  This gal's love for creatures is astonishing.

Knowing of Annika's great affection, the Easter bunny brought her tiny caterpillars.  They grew SO quickly!  Here they are about to form their chrysalises.


After much patient waiting, our painted lady butterflies emerged.

This little guy's wings were malformed so he couldn't fly.  

He lived out the remainder of his happy butterfly life feasting on fruit in our home.

Here's Annika feeding the butterfly she made in kindergarten.  So many thanks to our favorite butterfly lady, Elaine Clark.

Time for release.  Our butterflies were surprisingly docile.  Quite content in their butterfly enclosure, they had to be coaxed away from their home and would have rested all evening on our fingers.  I'm not sure how they fared in the wild, but let's hope for the best.

Annika's infatuation with bugs is matched only by her continuing fetish with dolphins.  As you can see, she's collected quite a pod.

Most nights they take over her bed.

Here's the pod trying out our new coffee table.  Not exactly how I envisioned it getting used, but I suppose it works.

Other Annika memories: she loved spring gymnastics at the Fairmont Aquatic center.

She also really enjoyed being a Girl Scout Daisy.

Here she is with Ms. Jessica at her badge ceremony.

Such a fun little troop.

A few random moments: dressed up like a princess in front of the church.

Learning how to throw axes with the Elders' Quorum.

And now before first grade starts, a few kindergarten memories.  She was so proud of her artistic creations at the Wasatch Arts showcase.

Plus, she got to be a chicken in her Town Hall production of Click, Clack, Moo.  (My favorite part was the milk carton jokes at the end.)

For kindergarten graduation, her amazing teacher Ms. Tanner told special stories about each student.

Ms. Tanner spoke about Annie's love for animals and told funny stories about how she would stop dead in her tracks to rescue an ant, causing all of the kindergartners in line behind her to tumble like dominoes.

 Miss Annika, you are one of a kind.  Never lose that spunk.

We love you a billion bugs!