I couldn't help but dig up some old pictures from our last two family trips to the Gardens. Can you believe this was taken just 2 years ago?? This was from our first family trip to the
Meijer Gardens, during their annual Butterfly Exhibit (March, 2008). Maya was 10 months old!
One year later (March, 2009)... Here I am with ANOTHER baby strapped to my body! Maya was about 22 months, and Liam was about 3 months old. Look at the difference in Maya's hair! Not to mention the fact that Liam actually looks BIGGER than Maya did when she was 7 months older than him! Based on weight alone, I'm pretty sure he WAS bigger!
We made the trip back today, for the third time. It's such a fun 1/2 day trip, and this year, I didn't have ANY babies strapped to my body! Both of my "babies" were up walking around by themselves, giving me some good opportunities to snap some pictures of the beautiful butterflies. Here's one of my favorites... there's just something about a blue butterfly...
When we first entered the little indoor flower garden, there was this nice cut-out, so of course I made the kids have their picture taken in it! They both made very cute caterpillars! Here's Maya...
I made a few failed attempts to get Maya to pose as a butterfly, so you get a grumpy looking butterfly and a super-cute caterpillar (again). Here's Liam...
Here are the "babies" this year... walking around, exploring the plants, flowers, and butterflies (sometimes) together...
awwww.... : )
Buddy hung out in this spot most of the time. I think he liked it because he could actually stand in the dirt, off the sidewalk, to get a closer look at the butterflies. He spotted the black one one the yellow flower. Such concentration...
"Look, Mama!" Showing off his butterfly...
This is Will's favorite way to tote Maya around. She was showing me how she wanted to "
hode one of the
buttersies". She kept putting her hands together, as though to make a cup, and stretching out her arms towards the butterflies, in hopes they would land on her hands (though, truth be told, I think she would have freaked out if one actually did land on her hand!)...
Again, holding her hand out, trying to coax a butterfly off of a flower, so she could hold it. She's SO loving of animals and PRETTY bugs, like butterflies. Sometimes when we read books, she'll cup her hands around an illustration of an animal and go, "
Awww..." and give it a kiss. There's one book, called "The Christmas Cat" or "The Cat Who Climbed the Christmas Tree", something like that, and every time we read it, there's one illustration which shows the cat starting to slip off the tree branch. Maya always cups her right hand, puts it around the cat's butt, and says, "I dot you, tat. Don't worry. I dot you." It's SO darn cute!!
Okay, so we go from super sweet Maya... to THIS! I have NO idea what this face is all about, but I know it was accompanied by a loud growl! I'm guessing he was getting hungry or just being a boy... one of the two!
Here they are at Noodles & Co., our annual lunch spot. Neither one of them had much of an appetite, surprisingly enough, but they both had lots of fun coloring on these boards. They are mirror images of each other, Maya, our lefty, and Liam, our
righty. Check out how well Liam holds the crayon. Both kids picked that up really quickly...
Chasing all those butterflies wore Buddy out! He was out about 20 minutes from home, then continued to sleep for 4 more hours after we got home, and I put him into bed!! I love his super-tired sleeping face... drool, snoring, the works! He's SO CUTE...
Stay tuned for our 4
th Annual Butterfly Garden family trip in March of 2011! By the way, Maya kept calling it the "
buttersy patch". I love her little expressions!
One year later (March, 2009)... Here I am with ANOTHER baby strapped to my body! Maya was about 22 months, and Liam was about 3 months old. Look at the difference in Maya's hair! Not to mention the fact that Liam actually looks BIGGER than Maya did when she was 7 months older than him! Based on weight alone, I'm pretty sure he WAS bigger!
We made the trip back today, for the third time. It's such a fun 1/2 day trip, and this year, I didn't have ANY babies strapped to my body! Both of my "babies" were up walking around by themselves, giving me some good opportunities to snap some pictures of the beautiful butterflies. Here's one of my favorites... there's just something about a blue butterfly...
When we first entered the little indoor flower garden, there was this nice cut-out, so of course I made the kids have their picture taken in it! They both made very cute caterpillars! Here's Maya...
I made a few failed attempts to get Maya to pose as a butterfly, so you get a grumpy looking butterfly and a super-cute caterpillar (again). Here's Liam...
Here are the "babies" this year... walking around, exploring the plants, flowers, and butterflies (sometimes) together... awwww.... : )
Buddy hung out in this spot most of the time. I think he liked it because he could actually stand in the dirt, off the sidewalk, to get a closer look at the butterflies. He spotted the black one one the yellow flower. Such concentration...
"Look, Mama!" Showing off his butterfly...
This is Will's favorite way to tote Maya around. She was showing me how she wanted to "hode one of the buttersies". She kept putting her hands together, as though to make a cup, and stretching out her arms towards the butterflies, in hopes they would land on her hands (though, truth be told, I think she would have freaked out if one actually did land on her hand!)...
Again, holding her hand out, trying to coax a butterfly off of a flower, so she could hold it. She's SO loving of animals and PRETTY bugs, like butterflies. Sometimes when we read books, she'll cup her hands around an illustration of an animal and go, "Awww..." and give it a kiss. There's one book, called "The Christmas Cat" or "The Cat Who Climbed the Christmas Tree", something like that, and every time we read it, there's one illustration which shows the cat starting to slip off the tree branch. Maya always cups her right hand, puts it around the cat's butt, and says, "I dot you, tat. Don't worry. I dot you." It's SO darn cute!!
Okay, so we go from super sweet Maya... to THIS! I have NO idea what this face is all about, but I know it was accompanied by a loud growl! I'm guessing he was getting hungry or just being a boy... one of the two!
Here they are at Noodles & Co., our annual lunch spot. Neither one of them had much of an appetite, surprisingly enough, but they both had lots of fun coloring on these boards. They are mirror images of each other, Maya, our lefty, and Liam, our righty. Check out how well Liam holds the crayon. Both kids picked that up really quickly...
Chasing all those butterflies wore Buddy out! He was out about 20 minutes from home, then continued to sleep for 4 more hours after we got home, and I put him into bed!! I love his super-tired sleeping face... drool, snoring, the works! He's SO CUTE...
Stay tuned for our 4th Annual Butterfly Garden family trip in March of 2011! By the way, Maya kept calling it the "buttersy patch". I love her little expressions!
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