Turkey Week: Butterfly House

My wife had decided to take a half day off today, so I planned an activity for the three of us this afternoon. I took Troy to Adventure Kids this morning and picked him up at lunch again. What I didn’t know was that my wife decided to schedule a maintenance for the washer and dryer today…of all days…which meant she couldn’t hang out with us. So, Troy and I went to the Butterfly House without her.

The last time we had been to the Butterfly House was with Charlotte and her dad, but Charlotte was not the type to leisurely look at the scenery. So, we ended up blowing through it in about ten minutes. This time, I slowed Troy down, and we took our time watching the butterflies flutter by and the bobwhite quail run under the trees. There’s something so peaceful and calming about butterflies, and even the usually go-go-go Troy was content to sit on a bench and watch them gently alight on the various foliage.

My favorite part was when a Large Tree Nymph, which is a black and white butterfly, floated playfully past us. I got Troy to stop and stand still, so I could take a picture of it flying by his face, but the curious butterfly landed on my finger instead! I slowly moved my hand so that I could take a picture of it, and he fluttered over to my green shirt. Troy got a little excited and scared the butterfly, and he flew off. But he came right back and landed on me several more times…my arm, my neck, my shoulder, my head, and even on my face! When another family with kids came up and saw him sitting on me, they wanted to hold him too. I tried to coax the friendly butterfly onto the little girl’s finger, but he didn’t want to let me go. I even tried walking away, and he followed me! I have no idea what it was about me that interested him so much, but I loved it immensely. I have been waiting over thirty years to have a butterfly land on me, so now I can check that off my bucket list.

After the butterfly encounter, Troy and I went outside to enjoy the gardens a little bit. I took in the scenery, while he played on the playground. It was a pretty great day. He even wanted to take another pass back through the Butterfly House, so we went through again. Sadly, we didn’t have the same success as the first time, but it was still lovely.