Little(ish) Visitor

Sometimes photo ops happen so unexpectedly!
This afternoon, just as I ran out to the back deck to bring in the beach towels before another storm blew in, I found this huge grasshopper right there on the deck so I put him in a big jar (he actually got loose in the house so I had to catch him twice!) and the kids offered our captive special guest some grass, lettuce, tomato and bread crumbs to see if we could make him happy. Once he was settled in, my little scientists started making observations: my 4 yo girl counted his legs to see if he could be classified as an insect- she counted seven legs so she decided that he wasn't an insect after all. My 6 yo boy decided that the bug was too big to be a real grasshopper so he asked me to google "mystery bug" so just when our guest was about to be stripped of all dignity my littlest boy started singing the song that his grandma taught him "head, thorax, abdomen!" (to the tune of "head, shoulders, knees and toes")! After the song was finished they all decided that he was indeed an insect, even if he wasn't a real grasshopper. After supper, the storm had passed and we decided to give "Mystery bug" his freedom. My kids set the jar on the deck and let him climb out by himself and surprisingly, he stayed on the rim of the jar long enough for me to run grab my camera and snap a few pics...

...and then to everyone's astonishment, he flew away!