Bugs Bugs All Around

I've always invisioned myself as the kind of mom who takes her kid on adventures. I love adventures myself and I just thought trouncing around town in the middle of the day with a toddler, seeing sights, and experiencing "stuff" would be one of my contributions as a parent. Now that Annie is a full blown toddler....it's time. I have picked several key days in each month and for each of those days I picked a theme. The theme for today was BUGS.

So, we woke up and read some bug books: The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Busy Spider. We talked about bugs and then headed off to meet Hillary, Tana, and Baby Brenna at the Butterfly Pavilion.

I really enjoyed the Butterfly Pavilion. It's small in size, but what is there is good. I absolutely loved the Butterfly Conservatory where tons of butterflies fly free. Some small, some large, and all gorgeous! We attended the creepy crawly story time where Annie got to pet a cockroach and hear several stories about bugs. We also attended the Butterfly Release where new butterflies are let out to fly around. The kids absolutely loved this part, and I was pretty mesmerized too. We also looked at lots of furry tarantulas, and when we went up to the little place where you could hold one, Annie was the first to stick her hand out and let it crawl over her hand. I though twice about it, but seeing that my 3 YEAR OLD had just held a tarantula like it was her best friend, I had to give it a try. It was light, and soft, and I don't really want to do that again.

After many hours at the Butterfly Pavilion we headed back home. Annie fell asleep in the car for 10 minutes, but woke up upon arrival back home. So, we pulled out a new BUG coloring book and had fun with that. Right before dad came home we read A Mama Bug's Love and thus ended our BUGY day.

All in all, I was really pleased with the way today went. It was my first mommy-planned theme day and I am excited to keep up with this. I think today was a great adventure for Annie, as it was for me, and I can see that she loves it. I feel like this is exactly what I envisioned when I decided to be a stay at home mom. If you have any ideas on future theme days, let me know. At the end of the month I have a VEGETABLE theme day planned. Also, if you want to join along on a theme day, just let me know.