swimming and praying mantis

Well swimming is in full swing now. Linda has been somewhat reserved when it comes to the pool so far this year. Today she took a major step and wanted to wear her life jacket. At first she would not let go of my hand at all, but then she got used to it and swam all over w/it on. I tell you what, that will tire a kid out. Her little legs and arms were just a movin' the whole time. She had a great time. Her safety around the pool is paramount. I'm so grateful to Uncle Tim for putting our summer safety cover on our pool last year. It's a net that goes over the pool and is tightened thru a pulley type system. It gives me such a peace of mind knowing it is on when she isn't swimming. I can let her play in the back yard on the other side of the fence w/o having to stare at her.

The other picture is of baby praying mantis' we found. They are so cute. We found three of them running around near the deck on the deck post. They are brown. It makes sense that they are brown b/c they must be pretty easy to eat for other insects. That way anyway they are hard to see. I hope at least one of them grows up to an adult. They are my favorite insect. Linda was excited to see them, and wanted to hold them. They were actually quite quick compared to the adult praying mantis. I didn't let her though, b/c they were so tiny and I didn't want her to accidently kill them, like she has done in the past w/other bugs, lol.