Butterflies

Today we went to see butterflies at Olbrich Gardens. This is an annual event at the garden. They had a huge exhibit of collected butterflies (on pins), with butterflies from all over the world. Then we walked through the Conservatory, where butterflies were flying all around. They also had two hatching stations, where you could see butterflies coming out of their chrysalises and Bug got to touch some dead butterflies in a bowl.

Finally, we walked through the outdoor gardens and collected stamps in our butterfly passports. There were six stations, and each had a butterfly fact and a task to do to earn the stamp. In one garden, we identified water for them to drink, flowers to find nectar, foliage to rest on, and wide open spaces for flying. We also looked for good places to lay eggs, food that caterpillars would like, sturdy branches for making a chrysalis, and warm sunny spots to allow wings to dry after emerging from the chrysalis. Each of the kids got a coupon for a free custard cone as a reward for filling up the passports.