Butterflies!

Today we met our playgroup friends for a field trip to Wild Connections, a cool butterfly farm in Southwest Austin. It is a place that has been on our list for years and the buddies are finally the right age to enjoy it. The 56 acre, family - owned farm is a place where kids can run free and explore nature.

We began our outing by exploring a few fish ponds. Ace was miffed that he couldn't go fishing and Ben got in trouble with his mean mama for throwing rocks in the pond. This was not the lake!

Once most of our little friends and their grown-ups arrived, we headed to the butterfly house to explore. The 2000 square foot greenhouse housed hundreds of butterflies, as well as some fish and turtles. Our short people were pleased to discover that the mama turtle had not one baby but two - twins! One of the owners let our children hold sticks with caterpillars and fruit with butterflies perched atop. Ben said the butterfly house was "magical" and I have to agree.



After our picnic lunch, we explored the pink and yellow hiking trails. The kids got a kick out of searching for "clues" (rocks and tree branches painted yellow or pink). Our diligent little friend, Caroline, took note of each clue in her trusty notebook along the way. After our hike, we explored the butterfly house one last time and then hit the road with tired, happy kids.

More pictures here!