Denver - Part 4

Our final excursion in Denver was to The Butterfly Pavilion. I wasn't really sure what this place was all about, but it was recommended from several sources so we decided to check it out. Basically, it's a living museum of creep crawlies. We started in a room full of aquariums stocked with various spiders, beetles, roaches, and other squirm-inducing creatures. Then there was an area with some fish tanks and some other ocean-related items, as well as a place where kids could touch some sea creatures. The coolest part of The Butterfly Pavilion, however, was the actual butterfly pavilion. This was essentially a large greenhouse-type room full of trees, vegetation, and about a million butterflies. The butterflies fly all over, and while you're not supposed to touch them (a restriction Caleb found maddening), we were able to walk around and observe all the different kinds. I get excited whenever I see a butterfly fly through the yard, so being in a room swarming with butterflies was pretty amazing.

The kids had the opportunity to hold a tarantula. Once again, Caleb and Joshua wanted nothing to do with it, but Amanda thought it was so cool she had to go back a second time.

Utterly repellent roaches. The time I spent living in New York City only made me more squeamish of these nasty things.

Caleb was absolutely fascinated by the beehive.

Guess who was the only one who wanted to touch the sea creatures? Amanda, of course.

We were lucky enough to get an up close demonstration on the "birds and the bees" (and the butterflies). As Caleb described it, "They're kissing with their bums!"

For some reason, the butterflies were highly attracted to the top of my hat. It's hard to see in this picture, but there's at least one up there. The butterflies would land there and just hang out. I'd keep walking around and they wouldn't budge. At one point I think there were three or four camped out on my head. The kids thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.