Butterfly Wonderland

Today was our last full day in Phoenix.  We enjoyed a lazy morning at the house.  Caleb spent most of his time playing with Aunt Sue's cat, Kiki.  He is obsessed with Kiki.  Poor cat.  Luckily, Kiki is a good sport and he probably gives her enough treats to make up for his unrelenting love.  Aunt Sue showed him how to shake the treat bag to entice her to do what he wants and he has abused his treat shaking power to the fullest.

In addition to Kiki, Matt dropped off his dog Kayla this morning while he goes on a trip.  Caleb was very protective of Kiki once Kayla arrived.  He worried that Kiki was scared, but Aunt Sue said she can take care of herself.

We were advised not to do anything outdoors besides swimming because of the heat so we decided to check out Butterfly Wonderland.  Morgan had already chosen to wear her butterfly dress today before knowing anything about Butterfly Wonderland.  Perfect choice!

Rodney was having Whataburger withdrawals so we went there for lunch.  On our way to the butterflies, our car thermostat showed 114 degrees.  It's hot!  Caleb napped in the car on the way to and from the butterflies.  He was tired!

Butterfly Wonderland is like a giant greenhouse filled with tons of beautiful butterflies and moths.  We began by watching a 3D movie about Monarch butterflies.  It was fascinating.  Every 3rd generation of Monarchs is a super-butterfly who lives longer and migrates all the way from Canada to Mexico.  These tiny little butterflies fly through 3 countries and then their children and grandchildren make the journey back.  How do they know where to go?  It's amazing.

Then you see some butterflies and moths hanging in their chrysalides (Butterfly expert Morgan told me the plural form of chrysalis).  I was hoping to see some butterflies emerge, but no such luck.  So we went inside to see the butterflies.  It was amazing.  We walked through the beautiful butterfly garden and they were fluttering everywhere.  We hoped they would land on us, but they mostly fluttered around us.  A few landed on my camera lens and one landed on Rodney's head.  The kids loved it.

Caleb hoping that a butterfly would land on his hand.

Morgan was so excited to get close enough to this butterfly to be able to see the butterfly drinking through its proboscis.  She's a butterfly expert.

 The proboscis is like a built-in straw for the butterfly to drink through.  You can see it curled up in front of the butterfly's head in this picture.  It uncurls when the butterfly takes a drink.

They had bowls filled with fruit that were always full of butterflies.

Butterfly Wonderland is attached to a large aquarium that is still under construction.  They had a few aquarium exhibits to wet our appetites, though.  :-)  Caleb acted like he was going to touch a stingray, but always pulled his fingers out when it came to him.

Caleb enjoying the Koi Pond in the butterfly garden

Rodney's selfie with a butterfly

 We stayed a long time with the butterflies and then got some ice cream on our way back to Aunt Sue's house.  We went out for Mexican food at one of her favorite places, Top Shelf.  It was yummy!  Caleb and Aunt Sue had time for some tic-tac-toe before our food arrived.

The kids had not been swimming at all today so they hopped in the pool after dinner.  Kim brought Logan and Connor over for a quick swim and to say goodbyes.  Then it was off to bed because we'll be back on the road again tomorrow.