A Visit to the Butterflies!

Even with all the house craziness going on, we have managed to do some fun things over here - I just haven't managed to post about any of them! A few weeks ago Lori and I took Eli and the girls over to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit and play in the children's garden. The day was just beautiful, with clear skies and sun. The kids liked the butterflies for about two minutes and then were pretty much done with experiencing the wonder of being surrounded by hundreds of butterflies. They liked the cave (below), though:

Eli: "We're in a dark dark place."

One of the beauties that I was able to snap a picture of.

We also stopped and looked in the little hatching house where they have the hatching cocoons of the butterflies. The kids thought that was interesting for much less time than Lori and I thought it was interesting . . .

This one was on the inside of the glass,
so I got a neat shot of the bottom of a butterfly!

After spending not very much time in the presence of the butterflies, we headed outside to the children's garden. I think the kids could have spent much more time out here than what we had - we needed to leave to eat lunch and pick up Noah from school. I'll definitely be heading back to the children's garden with Eli and the girls too now that spring looks like it's going to stick around!

Heading through the little gate to the garden.

Where should we go first?

Eli's favorite - the little sandbox
(he wouldn't play in the BIG one next to it)

Chasing each other in the maze was another hit!

Only a child could make "candy" out of a pail of rain water,
some leaves, and a stick.

I don't want that baby in here with me, Lexi.

Haha! Lexi stepped away and I just threw her baby out of the cradle!

While we were at the gardens we ran in to my cousin Catherine and her son, Joshua, which was a fun reunion. We caught up with them again at the giant sandbox play area, so we got to chat a bit. I had a great day at the gardens, though I would have liked to spend even more time actually looking at the butterflies. But kids' attention spans and fascinations aren't the same as mine.

I asked Eli later if he liked the butterflies and he said, "No, the butterflies made me sad," complete with little hunched over shoulders and a pouted lip (he got his dramatics from his Mommy, yes indeed). So then I asked him if he liked playing outside and he shouted, "Yes," and ran around in a circle with his arms up. I'm guessing it will take a few more years before he really likes the butterflies, since the girls at age 4 and a half also weren't impressed with them for long. Maybe Mommy will have to go by herself to enjoy the full beauty of the butterfly exhibit! I know that we'll be back to the gardens again soon, butterflies or no butterflies!