Our Visit to Butterfly Wonderland

Our family was privileged to attend the grand opening of Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale. Jake has been working with them through his job, and they invited us to attend.

Coincidentally, Mary recently became obsessed with butterflies, and spends most of her book reading time on the last page of The Very Hungry Caterpillar shouting "FLY!" at the page.

She also requests to watch the Butterfly Wonderland YouTube commercial every day. So we jumped at the opportunity to take her there.

Hot air balloon at the opening ceremony

After the opening ceremony, we watched their 3D movie "Flight of the Butterflies", which everyone loved (except Mary, because she couldn't keep her glasses on). Sam kept saying "The butterflies are IN THE ROOM!"

Next, we headed to the emergence gallery, where the butterflies hatch from their cocoons. I got to witness 3 butterflies actually emerging and opening up their wings. It was fantastic.

After the gallery, we went to the star of the show - the butterfly atrium. We obviously didn't know what to expect, and we were all amazed how wonderful it was. 

The atrium is a big enclosed garden that they keep at rain forest temperatures (around 85 degrees and humid). All around us, butterflies were floating - a lot of times in pairs or trios. They were carefree and didn't mind flying right in front of you or landing nearby.

Same Butterfly - wings closed and then opened

 This one perched itself on my leg as I was taking pictures of Mary.

In flight

Right as a mist settled over the atrium, a butterfly decided to pay a visit to Sophie. They chatted for a bit, and then the butterfly flew up to Sophie's hair, adding a nice accessory to her outfit.

We loved our visit! I'm hoping to go back soon!

Tucson Day Trip

Last Friday, our family decided to take a day trip to Tucson. We wanted to visit a couple of the places that we enjoyed while we were living there a couple of years ago, including our old house, the hospital where Sophie was born, and the zoo.

We set out mid-morning, and our first stop was Reid Park Zoo.

We love this zoo. It's small, but packed with exhibits. Our kids each had their favorites, and we were surprised at how much Mary enjoyed the whole experience. "AN-MOWS!"

After the zoo, we were off to El Guero Canelo for Sonoran Hot Dogs. Then we drove through our old neighborhood, saw our old house (and the tiny tree we planted growing strong!), and remembered how pretty our area was.

 Our House

 The View Across the Street

The Mountain in our Back Yard

Last Day of Kindergarten!

Sophie finished Kindergarten. And you are not going to believe how much she grew. Brace yourselves...

Crazy, huh? It was her idea to wear the same dress. She thought it was cool to wear it the first day of school, in the middle, and on the last day of school. Here's another comparison:

We take 4 kindergartners home every day, so I decided to surprise the kids after school. I blew up about 50 balloons, lined the van entrance with crepe paper, and folded all the seats down (we live about 10 houses from the school). It made for a pretty fun ride home.

 

Congratulations Sophie! Now on to summer!

Sophie's Ballet Recital

Sophie had her first ballet recital this weekend. She takes ballet from Mrs. Danielle, and loves it! The recital was great too - we enjoyed the whole show.

Our Ballerina on her way to the show

She performed 2 numbers - a ballet piece to "Kiss the Girl", and a hip-hop number to "Lip Gloss".

Kiss the Girl
(there's a video here - you may have to be in my blog to view it)

 Lip Gloss

After the show, we gave her a rose, which she thought was really special.

Good Job Sophie!

Paige's Baby Shower

Earlier this month, Jake's mom and I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Paige. We decided on a pink & gold theme with chalkboard signs. More details of the decor are on my other blog.

Signs welcoming guests to the shower

 

The food & decor

 The craft

For our baby shower activity, I made a page for every letter of the alphabet, and then guests drew pictures on all of them. I'm going to scan them into an Alphabet book for Paige & the baby.

Congratulations Sam & Paige! We're excited to meet baby Jane next month!