the butterflies are back!

The butterflies are back at Meijer Gardens!
My friend Nancy from Kalamazoo came to see them. It was a gorgeous sunny day. It was cold outside, but inside the conservatory it was a balmy 80 degrees (hey, it's spring break)!



They added to the exhibit, one of the conservatories now has Monarch caterpillars, chrysalis and butterflies. That was pretty neat. Then we got into the large conservatory and the butterflies were every where.



There are signs everywhere telling you not to touch the butterflies, but if you ask a volunteer, they'll suggest you wear bright colors to attract the butterflies. One landed right on Nancy's hand! I managed to snap a picture before it took flight.



While we were walking around I overheard a young girl talking to her mom. There were several girls, who all appeared to be sisters. One of the older two (I would guess around ten or eleven) was not happy that butterflies were not attracted to her and were apparently attracted to the others. Out of what sounded like frustration, she asked her mom, "Is it because I put on deodorant?" She clearly wanted an answer as to why the butterflies were not landing on her. It made me laugh, and I wanted to tell her the butterflies might not care, but I appreciated it.



It warmed up enough that we headed outside. We didn't really see anything new, but we enjoyed the walk. In this last photo of the waterfall, you can still see some ice (it's just to the left of the top of the waterfall).