Monday morning found me and my husband enjoying one of our favorite outings…..to our local Costco store.  We both love going there but for very different reasons.  I love the book and DVD section while my husband loves to taste all the samples of food that he can find.

His love for the food samples at Costco (or at any store for that matter) used to be a problem for me because he would frequently disappear with our shopping cart while he was on the hunt for samples and I would be stuck with an armful of shopping items, vainly searching for him.

So, we have a new arrangement where he disappears and can search for as many samples as he wants and I KEEP the shopping cart.  He does check in with me from time to time and to bring me a sample or two.

Well while we were shopping on Monday, I saw a wonderful gift idea in the toy section.  

It is a butterfly & ladybug kit.  

We bought the butterfly version last Christmas for our kids and sent away for the free caterpillars in springtime and had a wonderful time seeing the caterpillars transform into butterflies and then releasing them into the wild.  You can read more about our butterfly raising experience here if you like.

My daughter, Ruthie, brings home ladybugs in the spring that she finds on the school playground and then releases them in our garden.  She will be thrilled with this gift and I know the kids will enjoy raising butterflies again as well as a new adventure raising ladybugs.

So, if you have a Costco store nearby, go and buy this now (hopefully your local Costco has them too) – my cost was $20.  I had two shoppers stop me while I was shopping to ask where I found this, so I do not know how long they will have them in stock.

You can find other products from the company who creates this kit.

Well, now I have one more gift crossed off of my list…  🙂