Butterflies at the Botanic Gardens

Kiki is changing jobs and had a week off between her old job and her new one, so she invited the kids and I to go with her to see the butterflies at the Botanic Gardens. We pulled the girls out of school a couple of hours early and set off for Fort Worth. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it turned out that the exhibit was in a conservatory in the main building. We walked in through a double set of doors (so the butterflies wouldn't escape) and found ourselves in what looked almost like a rainforest (it felt like one too - very hot and extremely humid) filled with butterflies.

These were the most common. The spots resemble owl eyes and discourage predators.

Pupae I think ~

Megan examining a butterfly and figuring out what type it was ~

Check out the huge moths (I think they were Prometheus moths) above the kids' heads!

A guide brought over a chrysalis (or whatever they call it for moths) for the kids to see ~

Jack examining a butterfly ~

We thought this plant covered in butterflies was pretty cool ~

Jack was THRILLED (and the rest of us were jealous) when a large butterfly picked his head to land on ~

The butterfly even stuck around when we started walking around again. Jack decided it wanted to come home with us and be our pet. Upon hearing that suggestion, the butterfly flew off ~

Another moth ~

This one was my favorite ~

Jack and Kiki examining a butterfly ~

Kylie, Megan, and Jack checking a couple of butterflies out ~

I kept Eva in the carrier as she kept trying to grab the butterflies and plants. She didn't like being kept from touching everything.

Watching the butterflies eat ~

After leaving the conservatory, they told us there was a room set up in the building across the parking lot with some activities for the kids, so we headed there. We got sidetracked by some fun statues along the way. Megan is such a goofball! :)

The kids' room had butterfly wings and other things the kids could use to dress up. It also had a couple of exhibits that talked about butterflies. The kids had a lot of fun!

Eva decided she wanted to color and was undeterred by the fact that the marker didn't show up on the black paper ~

Butterfly Jack looking at the world through butterfly eyes ~

Kylie, Beth, Kiki, Jack, and Megan making bracelets that explain the life cycle of a butterfly using pasta ~

Kylie with her finished bracelet ~

Kylie the moth ~

Eva hoarding all the fish and frog toys at the fake pond ~

Kylie and Jack as bats (which apparent have frog heads) ~