We Went to BUTTERFLY WORLD!! 🦋🌺

Sunday morning Dad just goes "get in the car, I have a surprise" and me and Lux were SO excited because Dad's surprises are always the BEST. We were dancing around in the driveway in the sunshine before we even knew where we were going!! Then we pull up and there's this little building with a GIANT butterfly painted on the window and Dad goes "welcome to Butterfly World" and I literally screamed!! 🦋

Walking Into a Tropical Jungle 🌴

Okay so the second you walk in?? It's not even normal Canada anymore. It's HUMID and warm and there are GIANT tropical leaves everywhere — like monstera leaves bigger than my whole face!! There are ferns and palm trees and orchids and these little curvy paths that go all through the conservatory and butterflies just FLYING around your head!! I kept ducking because I was scared one would land on my hair but Lux was trying to get them to land on him on purpose.

They Gave Us Butterfly ID Cards!! 📝🦋

This was my FAVOURITE part — they hand you these laminated cards with like 30 different butterflies on them and you have to find each one and try to figure out what species it is!! Me and Lux sat on this cute little bench under a palm tree with our cards out feeling like real scientists.

We saw a sign for the Rice Paper butterfly (also called the Large Tree Nymph) and it has these big translucent white wings with black spots — when one floated past us it literally looked like it was floating on the wind, you couldn't even see its body moving!! SO cool.

The Butterfly Feeding Station 🍊

Then we found this little stand with a plate of fruit on it and there were like FOUR different butterflies all sitting on it eating!! There was a black-and-yellow swallowtail, an orange one, and these little brown ones with eye-spots on their wings. I stood right next to it and Dad got a picture — look at how close they are!!

I was so happy I genuinely could NOT stop smiling. They eat fruit juice with this long curly straw thing called a proboscis and you can actually SEE it unrolling when they land on the fruit!! Lux squatted down next to the rocks for like ten minutes trying to get a yellow swallowtail to land on his hand and he was SO patient about it.

The Orchid Garden 🌸

Then Dad took us out the back into this OUTDOOR section and oh my GOSH — orchids EVERYWHERE!! There were white ones, purple ones, yellow ones, ones that looked like they had little faces, ones hanging off the trees!! It smelled SO good out there.

Me and Lux sat right down in the orchid bed for our photo shoot. The yellow ones were my favourite — they were so bright they looked fake but they were REAL!!

Obviously I had to do my peace sign. It's my THING. You already know.

And Lux did the cutest little smile next to the orchids — he was SO proud of himself for finding a butterfly that matched his ID card!!

TURTLES AND KOI FISH!! 🐢🐠

Okay you would think the butterflies were the best part but THEN we walked out across this wooden bridge over a pond and there was a TURTLE!! Just chilling on a rock!! And underneath the bridge there were ORANGE KOI FISH swimming around in the reeds!! It was like a secret bonus level. Me and Lux RAN across the bridge — sorry to the turtle for the noise!!

I learned today that there are hundreds of different butterfly species and most of them only live for like two weeks?? Which is sad but ALSO it makes you appreciate them more because they're only here for a tiny moment. Sunday adventures with Dad and Lux are my favourite thing in the whole world. We always end up somewhere I didn't even know existed!!

Watch the video below — Dad filmed the whole day and the butterflies look EVEN better in motion!! 🎥

— Symphony 🌟