Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Bryan's Family Visits: Butterfly World (February 2016)

After spending a super fun day at Hollywood beach, we decided to spend a relaxing few hours at Butterfly World before Bryan and family had to fly back to Washington.  There's such a special feeling at Butterfly World.  Not only do they have soothing instrumental musical playing in the background as hundreds of colorful butterflies circle around, but butterflies will forever remind us of sweet Mara, Bryan and Heather's oldest daughter who passed away almost 9 years ago.  I miss my niece and think of her often, especially when visiting Butterfly World.

Here are just a few highlights from our adventures at Butterfly World while my brother's family was in town...

The kids had so much fun looking at all the different butterflies in the butterfly aviary.  There were hundreds of gorgeous flowers in bloom as well.

Max was so sweet to let Dax follow him around and help point out items from the map.  I loved all the different orchids and tropical plants that are SO different from where I was raised.

Accompanying the several different types of butterflies, were gorgeous little birds that were so fast they were hard to get a good look at.  I brought my real DSLR camera and lucked out catching this little thing in movement!

Just some of the beautiful patterns...
We loved the angel butterfly all in white.

We found the COOLEST plant that curled at the moment you touched it's leaves.  They encouraged us to touch, so we could see it's reaction.  Daxton's mind was blown!
We were also able to see several butterflies emerge from their chrysalis!

Most of the time, the kids made several attempts at having a butterfly land on them somewhere.  I showed them the technique of approaching below very slowly, so the butterfly would simply walk onto their fingers.  This worked for the older kids, but Daxton could not slow down his three year old excitement and scared most of the butterflies away.  Look at those cute chubby little fingers though!

Katrina and Heather were both successful at holding butterflies!

Still trying to hold butterflies...so much concentration!

Sadie and Katrina holding more butterflies

I sure love this family so much!

After everyone had held multiple butterflies, this pouty frustrated three year old was quite done.  Max was the hero, though, and brought Dax his very own butterfly!  Max carefully placed the butterfly on Daxton's shirt where it sat for several minutes!

Max was even able to move the butterfly from Daxton's shoulder to Daxton's finger which definitely helped cheer up this moody toddler!

After looking at all the butterflies in the aviary, we explored the secret garden full of all sorts of passion flowers.  No matter how many times I see them, I'm still amazed by how unique and beautiful they are.  Sadie was a sweetheart and let Daxton borrow her camera.  I'm sure she had lots of fun looking through all the interesting shots he was able to get!

After all the flowers, we decided to feed the lorikeets!
It is always my favorite to see everyone's expressions as the birds start landing on their arms, hands, shoulders, and even their head.  Daxton did such a good job and was so brave.  I helped him hold the juice so he wouldn't drop it, but he didn't squeal or squirm at all.

Then all the kids took turns feeding the lorikeets as well.
I LOVE Natalie's expression below!

I love all the different beautiful colors in the Lorikeets' feathers.

As we were about to leave, the worker put one of the lorikeets on Heather's head.  I'm pretty sure she was just hoping it didn't choose that time to relieve itself!

We spent the rest of the time exploring the different exhibits, bug museum, running back and forth on the bridge, and then passing out from exhaustion.  The below picture of Daxton pretty much sums up our energy level at the end!

After having a great time at Butterfly World, we sadly went back to the house so everyone could pack their things.  As we were loading things into their minivan, we found a silly three year old trying to hide in their trunk.  Daxton was NOT happy about having to say goodbye to his cousins!  We loved being able to spend a few days with them.  We love our family so much and wished more than anything that we lived closer so we could see them more often.
Thanks for coming to visit us, Adams Family!
Come back anytime!  We love you guys!!

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