Butterflies

Read a neat article today that reminded me of our latest trip with the kids.

On news that Hurricane Wilma had blown through South Florida, we decided to change our vacation destination from the Keys to Chattanooga TN. We'd been through there before on a previous trip but hadn't stopped to look around. We figured a trip to "See Rock City" and Ruby Falls would be a nice change. We also planned to take the kids through the Aquarium they have downtown then hit the zoo.

The Rock City and Ruby Falls had a special price going for both attractions and the Aquarium so we bought the combo tickets and toured on. If you've never been to Rock City or Ruby Falls, I highly recommend them at least once. It's amazing to see God's handiwork up close and be able to stand on top of a mountain and see 7 different states!

What's that got to do with butterflies you ask? I'm getting there... As nice as it was, the trip to the Aquarium was even nicer (in my opinion). Picture two massive buildings, four stories tall, and each with a glass greenhouse-like structure at the top. One building was dedicated to fresh-water plants and animals, the other to salt habitats.

It was at the top of the ocean building that we found the butterfly garden.

You pass in through a door with an air-jet blasting down at you to keep the butterflies from flying out and step into a quiet world of colors of both plant and flying varieties. There were over a hundred butterflies flitting from flower to wall to plant everywhere you could see! There was even a window into the hatchery to see the myriad of cocoons with their vibrant jewel-tones hanging upside-down awaiting the metamorphosis that would birth a new creature.

Having been warned not to try and catch the butterflies, my second eldest (9yrs) picked a flower upon which one perched (goes to show you kids can think outside of the box). Soon all the girls were gathered around her and shortly had obtained or allow butterflies to crawl on their hands, careful not to touch the wings. It truly is a treat to see the wonder and delight in a child's eyes when they study new things! It helps to remind me not to take so many things for granted that I lose the joy of learning.

We didn't get to see the zoo that trip as the Aquarium took up most of the day!

It was truly a trip worth taking.