We had a beautiful Spring day on Wednesday, so the girls were outside blowing bubbles.  They were catching their biggest bubbles and piling them up on the cup, but they kept popping every time I went to take a photo, this was the best shot I could get!  I think they went through nearly a whole bottle of dishwashing liquid!

While were we outside I thought I'd practice my "macro photography' with our new strawberry plants on the deck. 

Can you see what I saw on the strawberry leaf in the picture below?  If you look closely you can see two little praying mantis nymphs.  I looked them up in our Lifesize Guide to New Zealand Insects by Andrew Crowe and found a photo of the praying mantis egg case.  The girls immmediately showed me where it was - on the wall right above the deck where the strawberry plants are.  Sure enough it was open!  Appparently these little guys are completely carnivorous, so they are no threat to the strawberries as they eat other insect pests.