Caleb was grumpy, grumpy, grumpy this morning, and even grumpier when he returned home from school this afternoon. I am desperately looking forward to Winter Break, so that he can get all the rest he needs and turn back into my sweet little man again. (I say that now, but I'm sure after a week of family fun time, I'll be ready to send him back to school!)
Once Caleb was safely on the bus, the girls and I decided to take a visit to the Butterfly House. Daisy chose her outfit very carefully: she rifled through all of her summer clothes, which had been put away, to find her t-shirt with butterflies on it. Then she chose a flowered long-sleeved shirt to wear underneath, in the hope that the butterflies would like it. Then she asked me to put two flower clips in her hair, hoping that the butterflies might mistake them for real flowers.
And yet, the moment we walked into the butterfly conservatory, she began fussing and begged to leave. She said it was a combination of too hot and scary butterflies, but honestly? There were hardly any butterflies to be found. Luckily, they were also having a special event that involved fairy houses, jewels, and a special "gnome forest" full of gnome-themed games and complimentary popcorn, so we were entertained for quite a while. It turned out that one of the people staffing the special gnome garden was a former student of mine! It's strange to realize that, since it's been over five years since I last taught, all of my former students are now grown-ups. The youngest are in college, but the majority are full-fledged grown-ups, with jobs and children. Crazy! Daisy was very confused, because she can't quite wrap her little head around the fact that I used to do something before I was a mommy.
Lily enjoyed every part of the Butterfly House. She was much more interested in the butterflies and flowers than Daisy was, and when we left the conservatory, she enjoyed wandering around and exploring everything. I love that she's finally big enough and a confident enough walker that she can check things out on her own! However, she's also entering a new stage of independence where she wants to do everything by herself. She wants to put her pants on by herself. She wants to put her jacket on by herself. Poor girl.
After I finally wrestled Lily's jacket on her and got the girls out the door, we realized that the sun was shining and it was beautiful outside, so at Daisy's insistence, we stopped to play at the giant caterpillar. They both had so much fun!
I love Daisy's grin, and Lily peeking out from under the caterpillar.
Daisy was willing to stop for a picture, but Lily couldn't be bothered. She was too busy exploring!
(No, that green thing above Daisy's head wasn't actually on her head. It was art in the background. But isn't she cute with those daisy bows in her hair? She's starting to let me do more things with her hair, but it always has to be her idea. She's definitely her mother's daughter!)
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