Happy Father's Day to all the dads and those that identify as one. This post is just some happy moments over the past few weeks that made me happy to be a dad. Hope you enjoy the photos and other random shit that might pop up in here.

I have a question for the all the dads out there, how much of yourself do you see in your kids? I'm not going to brag and say I have a bunch of Daddy's girls, but my phone is the one that rings when they are at grandma and grandpa's. I'm the one that gets asked to get in the pool with them. I'm the one that gets asked to go to the park.

I'm not confident it will always be that way as they get older, but, it is a refreshing feeling right now. They even share my love of life and especially - insects. That swallowtail butterfly in the gif up there? I saved that little fella from a huge clay mud puddle and let it dry its wings on me in the warm sun the other day. That same butterfly, is probably what prompted the 'pets of the week'.

I see my princesses do many of the same things and it gives me an emotion that I don't think there is even a word for. I would say pride, but that's not doing it justice. I would say love, but it's so much more than that. Maybe that's what true happiness is? A thing you just can't explain but know that when you feel it, it is unmistakable and gives you an overwhelming sense of being beyond any physical gift or sensation.

So, let's retitle this entire piece of a blog entry and call it:

The Little Things

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Milta the Moth

This was Freya's catch. They each decided to go out and snatch up some insects early last week. Initially, @freyamber had caught a tiny inchworm from while we were picking berries, but, upon letting her sister pet it, she dropped it upsetting Freya and commanding a new search for an insect companion to ensue. It was taken to and released at grandma and grandpa's over the weekend.

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Bethany the Butterfly

@khaldeesi was a proud mama to this cute little critter. I did not get as many pictures of it though, as it was not as docile and kept flying up, up and away from her. The nets they own, made it easy to catch her again and pull her down from the ceiling. To my knowledge, it now has a new home and has been relocated to the forests near grandma and grandpa's.

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Diablo the Dragonfly

I've never known a dragonfly to accept a human as this one did. Maybe it had to do with the wet wings and not able to fly well, but it clung to @lunamoon pretty well. So much, in fact, that in the last series there? You can see Diablo eating a grasshopper she had caught for her right on the tip of her finger! Sadly to say, Diablo did not make it out of captivity but did bring the Dragon Princess some joy and happy memories.

Sally the Salamander

Now Sally, I probably could have loved the rest of our lives. Salamanders are just so interesting to me. And, unlike skinks and lizards, you rarely see them out and about. This particular one, I found while moving a bunch of old dead wood and planks. I was repurposing them to (hopefully) grow some Lion's Mane fungi.

I'm not sure how @ecoinstant and his crew is doing it down there in Columbia, but this is the meager one man set-up I got. You can see the 'plugs' we smashed into all the places. I think the girls had more fun doing that than watching me brave the possibilities of what was lurking in the scrap pile that I stacked up to support the hopeful new mushroom colony. In all that wood, was where I found Sally amidst different beetles, millipedes, pill bugs, worms, ants, you name it - all things creepy and crawly were up under there. I was surprised not to see any snakes though, unless they felt me digging through the pile and slithered away from the noise.

But, I did befriend Sally, who lived in our kitchen for about 5 hours of her life. She had beautiful markings, and even gave us all kisses! Alas, she did not turn into a fairy godmother and grant me ten wishes. Only 3 before I returned her to her newly renovated pile of rotting wood.

Care For a Snack?

I know, most of this post was about bugs and the little things, but this is one of the little things. One of the little things in life that make you smile, even if you didn't want to.

One of the things my little princesses ask me for, (which I think I started when Luna was 3) for a snack, is a fruit or veggie plate. Especially the fruit, but veggies are growing more increasingly accepted now.

@lunamoon had taken it upon herself, while I foraged for ants and termites in the woodpile, to make us all a cute little snack. How could I possibly say no to that? And, give it a smile back? I happily ate the faces from the plates along with the rest of princesses as we giggled and enjoyed being back in the country.

Now, while I tend this grill and throw down some fat 2 inch New York strips for me and my pops, I hope the rest of you out there stop to breathe for a second, and take time to appreciate the little things in life. There are more of them than there are of us. Also, REMEMBER TO BE YOU! I always am, even when the dust has yet to clear.