Butterflies & Dinos...

We made a whirlwind trip to Grand Rapids Saturday before last. We haven't taken a family adventure in a while and these exhibits are not going to be around for much longer. Fredrik Meijer Gardens had the butterflies and the Museum downtown had dinosaurs. Perfect! One for each kid! They both had a blast, they were exited for each other to see their own place...Nina would say to Harry "Harry, we're going to see you dinosaurs soon!", and he had the same excitement for her "butterfly house". First we went to the butterflies, had our packed lunch in the car and then headed over to the museum downtown and then home...it was a fast trip, but worth it!

Nina loved being a caterpillar, Harry got a kick out of it too! You couldn't wipe this smile off of Amelia's face the whole time. It was so great to see the genuine interest she has in caterpillars and butterflies. (on a side personal note...she wore the dress that I made her, she was excited, she thought for sure that the butterflies would like it!)

The butterflies were AMAZING! We went a few years ago, and they were all sleeping. I think that time we may have seen one. This time, you had to be careful walking around, you felt like you may step on one.

This one had a fondness for Andy's back pocket.

Amelia spent quite some time at the chrysalis area. She pointed all the different ones out, you could see the butterflies that had just come out, with wet wings, trying to start moving. She would still be standing there if I hadn't pulled her away to see more butterflies. :)
A Blue Morpho butterfly, they were gorgeous.

This butterfly landed on my hand. It was there for about 10-20 seconds. It was drinking the sweat off my hand. It sure was hot in there and it was at the end of the walkway, perfect place for the butterfly to hang out! It was an amazing feeling having that butterfly walking around on my hand.
On the way out, what a great trip! Amelia is still asking to go back.

Here we are now at the dinosaur exhibit. Amelia zonked out on the way over. She spent all her energy with those butterflies, which was a good thing, because when I woke her up just before Harry was done with the dino's, she was terrified of them.

Waiting in line, I found a seat. She sure is heavy when sound asleep.

Harry had a blast with daddy!

Harry giving a 'dino' face.

Ah, a great ending. There is a beautiful carousal at the museum, we ended our trip with a ride before we left. A good time was had by all!