Butterfly Opera

Part of our annual summer traditions is a trip to Central City to see the Family matinee of one of their shows. This year’s opera was Madame Butterfly. Since we recently introduced one of Marina's friends to opera, we invited her join us.

We got an early start for the drive into the mountains. We arrived a bit early for the Opera Adventures part of the day. The Associate Director of Education, recognized us when we checked in. After a brief meeting in the stables, the group split in two. Our group went to the Teller House for an origami activity. Emily lead the class in making a butterfly. The girls each made two. Since origami is something Marina does all the time at home, she loved this part.

 After the origami activity, we went to the garden for the next activity. The leader talked about Painted Lady butterflies. After her introduction, she handed everyone a folded paper that contained a butterfly. The group counted down and then released their butterflies. They didn’t fly away right away, so both girls enjoyed watching the butterflies. Marina’s stayed on the paper for quite a while before it flew away.

While I went to get lunch, both girls found butterflies in garden, some on the ground, and even had some land on them. We ate lunch on the opera house patio and then gathered for the next activity. Inside the Williams Stables, we met the cultural director of Madame Butterfly. She taught everyone about Japanese culture. They learned about proper greetings and sang a folk song. We saw a demonstration on how to properly wear a kimono. Marina was thrilled to get to try one on. Last, the group learned several fan dance moves.

After the cultural lessons. We lined the street to watch the famous Usher Song. Then we went into the opera house to find our seats. Madame Butterfly is a long opera but we all enjoyed it. The girls particularly liked the little girl in the cast. The ending was tragic and we discussed the importance of honor in Japanese culture in relation to the ending.

The weather had become rainy so the meet and greet session was held inside. We spoke with several of the performers and took photos with them before heading back to the car.

Winter in the Tropics

The butterfly museum was having a “Winter in the Tropics” event with Moana and we wanted to be there for it. Marina wore her tropical Mickey Mouse dress and a yellow flower in her for the occasion.

We arrived a bit before the event, so we looked around the insect area. Marina held Rosie the tarantula and got a sticker. Then we looked at the aquarium area. She always likes looking at the fish. She even decided to touch the sea stars on display.

It was time for the Moana meet and greet. It was in the butterfly exhibit – our favorite. There were more butterflies than I remembered seeing there before. Some of them were the size of small birds! We walked around the perimeter to where Moana was. She remembered us from the Christmas concert.

After spending a few minutes with her, we wandered around the exhibit. Several small butterflies landed on the flower in Marina’s hair. She was thrilled. One was so determined that a volunteer had to remove it. Another large one landed on both of our clothes. The butterflies were very friendly today!

We went into the invertebrate section where Marina refused to see the glow in the dark scorpions, which were really interesting. The other bugs there grossed her out as well.

We went back into butterfly exhibit for a Moana concert. The ground was damp, so Marina shared her jacket with two other girls to sit on. After the concert we said goodbye to Moana, went through the insect area one more time before heading home.

Butterflies and Bugs

About four years ago, Marina and I went to the Butterfly Pavilion. We haven’t been there since, so we decided to go back today. It took quite a while for us to get to there. One reason we haven’t been there in so long is that is it far from home. During the drive, Marina happily sang along with the radio. They seemed to play all of her favorite songs today. But we were happy when we finally arrived. Marina said she felt like we were “going on an adventure!”

After we bought our tickets we went inside. We started by looking at the underwater exhibit where Marina was fascinated with some unusual looking lobsters. She also liked looking at a little crab who seemed to wave at her.

Next we went in to look at the insects. Marina took interested in a honey bee colony with glass sides. She watched the bees come and go through a clear tube. She shuddered looking at some of the insects – especially the black widow spider. But she was still happy to hold Rosie, the tarantula.

We went outside to the garden for a Monarch Watch. We went with butterfly nets looking for Monarch Butterflies to help study them. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any. So we went back inside.

We went into our favorite part of the Pavilion – the tropical exhibit. We both remembered this part – a warm environment where butterflies fly freely everywhere. We found butterflies on flowers and leaves and fluttering through the air. Marina sat down in an area where many butterflies were flying around and was delighted when one landed on her hat.

Next, we went into the invertebrate exhibit. Marina watched an ant colony, dug up and held a meal worm, placed a bee game and climbed a spider web. We also spent a bit of time browsing the gift shop. Then we went back into the tropical environment for the Butterfly Encounter. We watched as newly emerged butterflies were released into the exhibit.

On our way out, we stopped again at the underwater and insect exhibits. Marina held Rosie again and said goodbye. We were happy it didn’t take as long to drive home as it did to get there.

Lego Zoo

The zoo has an exhibition of Lego animals on display which Marina and I have not seen yet. Today the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go after church today.

The parking lot was very crowded but we were fortunate to find one quickly. Inside the zoo we picked up a map for all the Lego displays and some drinks. Our plan was to find all the Legos animals. We started by seeing the giant lion made of Legos near the lion enclosure. We walked over to the Feline House and saw the snow leopard Lego set up outside it.

While we were in the polar exhibit, the sea lion demonstration was going on. So we stayed to watch. A Lego rose and crane were on display in there. We also went through the tropical exhibit . We looked at the fish and Komodo dragons and saw the Lego orchid.

We needed a rest, so we bought some kettle corn and sat down for a little while. Then we took a ride on the carousel. Marina chose the black panther because it reminded her of Jasmine.

The day was hot and we were getting tired, so we looked for the rest of the Legos. We saw a fox and hare, bumblebee, hummingbird and butterfly. We wandered through the bird house and then went into the Elephant Passage to find the last two Legos. There was a dragonfly near the elephants and a lily pad with a koi set up on the water.

By this time, we were hot and very tired. It was time to go home.

Playing at the Amusement Park

It's hard to believe, but Marina and I didn't make it to the amusement park until this weekend. She's been wanting to go, but we've had such a busy summer that we couldn't fit it in. Today was such a beautiful day that if felt like the beginning of summer.

When we arrived at the park, I could see this trip would be different from last year. Our first stop was the observation tower. Marina had never expressed any interest in that before. We got a great view of the entire park and pointed out the rides we wanted to go on before going back down and getting on them.

We started off in the Kid's section.  Two rides had been added since last year, so Marina tried those first. She really liked them. She spent time on her old favorites too - bumper cars, airplanes and, of course, the roller coaster. I noticed that Marina is only two inches shorter than the maximum height for the kid's rides. There's a good chance she will be too tall to ride them next year!

On our way to the ball play area, we saw the face painting station. As usual, Marina wanted that. She asked for a rainbow butterfly. The young woman who designed it was an art student. She was quite detailed and added a ton of glitter. Marina loved that!

We get a turkey leg to split for lunch. Then we headed into the rest of the park. We went on some of Marina's favorites as well as some new one. I told Marina that I can't do a lot of spinning anyone, so she was quite concerned that I didn't get sick. Still, she convinced me to get on the Spider - one that made me sick as a kid! I did all right, Marina loved it!

We went on the river raft ride that we loved last year. We got completely drenched. Apparently some additional water spouts had been added. Marina was not happy. Then it was my turn to challenge Marina. We had never tried Ghost Blasters, a sort of haunted house with guns to shoot at the ghosts. She was a bit nervous, but agreed to try it. Once it was over, she had more point than I did and she said, "Let's do it again!" We ended up riding it five times today!

We headed back to the kids section. The lines were very short so Marina got the chance to ride everything she wanted many times. She often found a new friend to ride each one with. By this time, it was getting dark. So we made our way to the exit. Before we left we took a ride on the carousel. We were both pretty tired after all that fun.

Butterflies, Spiders and Beetles - oh my!

After lunch, we drove to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. It’s billed as an invertebrate zoo. We haven't been thre before, but we wre looking forward to checking it out.
The first room contained  lots of different bugs. We saw bees, beetles and cockroaches. They also had quite a selection of spiders. Marina had a chance to hold a tarantula. At first she was to afraid, but ultimately she changed her mind and held Rosie for a moment. She said her legs felt like pipe cleaners.

The next room had sea life in it. We’d never seen such large starfish! Marina gentle touched a horseshoe crab and two starfish. We also saw clownfish, lobsters and jellyfish.

The next room was made to look and feel like a tropical rainforest. Inside were beautiful plants and flowers. Most exciting, there were butterflies fluttering all over the place. It wasn’t unusual to have them fly right in front of us. Marina had one land on her hand. She was so excited to have it there. She gently guided it onto a plant leaf.

The last room had lots of kids activities including insects to crawl on and a spider web made out of rope. Marina had a great time climbing around and playing with the other kids.