Fireflies!

Jeremy and I got out for an evening alone one night. None of the kids were interested in going this year so Jeremy and I went out to see fireflies ourselves (and just like with the grouse, I'm not going to tell you the location. There are several places to see fireflies in Utah. Google it).

It was a gorgeous evening.

If you look really closely at that last picture, you can see a few tiny lights beneath the main lights at the top. The tiny lights are fireflies. Fireflies are always cool to see. Have you ever seen any?

Ruth and the Fireflies

One night for Family Home Evening, we discussed the story of Ruth in the Bible. Then we watched the VeggieTales video of Duke and the Great Pie War which is based on the story of Ruth from the Bible. Then we had Baby Ruths which has nothing to do with the Bible story of Ruth but it has the name "Ruth" in it so we just had to go with it.

After FHE, we made a trip down to see fireflies again. If you look really closely in these pictures you can see little dots of light. Those are the lights from fireflies.

Besides the fireflies, we watched bats flying above the water, Lucky was very interested in the ducks in the water, and we had fun looking at and discussing constellations.

At one point, Jr. was talking about Paris, France, when a firefly flashed in front of us and he tried to point it out to Jet. "Look at Paris. I mean the firefly. Look at the firefly." That firefly was then named, "Paris."

It was again a really nice family activity.

Everybody say, "Moo."

Fireflies!

Mom: Everybody say "Fireflies!"

Most of the kids: Fireflies!

Lucky: Where?

Years ago we heard that there are fireflies in Utah! Being a Western states girl, I'd never seen fireflies because I assumed you only found them farther East. We found out that every year for a short period of time there are places in Utah that have fireflies. BYU has even done studies on fireflies in Utah. Look it up.
So for years we've been wanting to see fireflies. Well, this year, it worked out. As a family we went down to a little place where we were able to stand next to a field with fireflies. Hooray! That was a cool experience.

To me, their lights going on and off look like sparks from a campfire. No wonder they are called fireflies. It was sooooo cool.

You may or may not be able to see the tiny little lights in these pictures. Click on the pictures to make them larger.

We couldn't stop singing songs from Ray the firefly in The Princess and the Frog.
The kids also had fun watching bats flying around eating mosquitoes.
It was a neat family experience. And we were able to count the experience for a Summer Reading badge.