We visit the butterflies

Monday, March 4:  This is a ridiculous amount of photos to put in one post, but if you knew how many I WANTED to show you, you'd think I was being selfish for not letting you see every single shot! Aidan Paul and I hiked the sub-zero's this afternoon from the very far-away under-construction parking lot at the hugely torn apart Meijer Gardens to catch a glimpse of the blooming butterflies.

Inside the butterfly place (there is a fancy name for it, but I can't think of it presently), it is a balmy 80+ extremely humid degrees. Pure heaven. Aidan watched these little flying fellows quite intently.

 They were everywhere ... it was intermittently sunny--not as much as I would have liked, because the butterflies really really LOVE the sunshine and come out from all kinds of hiding places when the sun shines--but at least the sun came out every now and again to cheer us up from the snow storm outside.

 Aren't butterflies so beautiful? And isn't it so kind of the Lord to let us enjoy all of their colors and designs? Don't we have an amazing God?

 This striped one (below) was quite a hard fellow to catch a still photo of ... he was fluttering about everywhere.

 Obviously, there were REAL photographers with mile-long lenses everywhere, probably snapping breath-taking shots ... but these are OK with me (since I know nothing about fancy lenses ... or formal photography for that matter).

 The Blue Morpho is just about everyone's favorite. I noticed more of them this year than ever before. They are quite large! They were taking low dives at Aidan, and he was amused.

Look at our little dear watching them fly by ...

I only too 111 pictures the hour we were there. It was quite crowded with little people. I'm going to have to come some morning all by myself and just soak it all in.

 I will say, though, that it was a pleasure to be at the Gardens with my little Aidan-Boy today. He is such a joy and a delight. He does not complain and just patiently waits as I take pictures. What a dear baby he is.

 We walked these pathways many times over ... just to get a glimpse of another butterfly ...

 I thought this one was especially pretty ...

 I could spend hours and hours inside this one area ... the climate is perfect for my well-being and the beauty just brings such joy.

Thank you, baby Aidan, for your patience with your grandma today. 

Our LONG walk back to the car almost did us in this afternoon. Aidan was actually crying from the wind and cold. He does not often get this upset and even had a hard time settling down once he was safely strapped in his car seat. I turned up the heat full blast, put music on, sang to him--all to no avail. I finally pulled the car over in a parking lot, came around to his door and gave him kisses and hugs and assured him we would be to my house as quickly as possible. He did settle down and smiled when he saw my house. We ate a good meal, laughed together and made faces at each other while we ate, and had a nice hour together before we had to go back out in the cold. Sigh. Perhaps six more weeks and we can call it quits with the cold!