Now, though, the garden has a new butterfly garden: a greenhouse specifically created to house a huge collection of live butterflies. It costs a bit more to get into the greenhouse, and when we bought our tickets, they told us that entry was timed so that they could limit the number of people in the exhibit at once. Given the size of the place, I thought that was a bit odd, especially since we saw only one other small family in the exhibit the entire time we were there. Still, after poking around at the greenhouses nearby, waiting our turn, a volunteer let us in and gave us a brochure about all the butterflies we might see. The brochure had a photo of each, and a little checkmark box next to each. I told Leah that when she saw a butterfly, she was supposed to "tick off" the little box, much to David's great enjoyment. He added, "Let's take the orange that one is eating. That will really tick him off!"
The exhibit was amazing...there were butterflies everywhere. Leah was quite impressed, and found quite a number of the species listed on the brochure. David quickly started to note that it was quite hot in the greenhouse (he didn't appreciate it when, after saying, "Wow it's hot in here! What do you think the temperature inside this thing is?", I replied, "Oh, at least 30...maybe 31?") He lasted for a few minutes, then made a quick escape for some fresh air. Leah and I spent another 15 minutes inside, and after another mum with two small children showed up, Leah and the older girl circled each other for a bit, testing the other out for potential friend potential, and both of them lost interest in the butterflies all together. The volunteer tried to bring them around, exclaiming, "Ooh, look, here's a silverking shoemaker then!" but it didn't work. So, Leah and I left to find David sweating it out on a bench.
Outside, we walked towards the "Gruffalo Trail." This is a route meant for kids that follows the Julia Donaldson children's story The Gruffalo with carved characters from the story. We absolutely love that story...actually, we love all of Donaldson's books, and they are so popular here that the Waterstone's stores in Scotland carry versions that have been translated into Scots. ("A moose took a dauner through the deep, mirk widd. A tod saw the moose and the moose looked guid...") The trail leads through a wooded area, and ends at a huge redwood tree, underneath which stands a carved Gruffalo. This was a real hit for Leah, and after we found it, David had to leave to meet up with some students, but Leah and I kept walking the trail again and again to "find" the Gruffalo over and over.
After David's departure, I figured Leah would be ready to go as well, but she was quite happy to continue to meander through the rock garden and across the wee waterfalls.
Then, she actually asked to go back into the glasshouses, where there was another family trail...this one marked by a printed map that showed 12 fruits or vegetables growing in various areas of the world. There was a set of stickers alongside the map, and so when you found one of the plants in the glasshouse, you put the sticker on the map. Leah was enamoured of this idea from the start...they had her at the word "sticker!" So, she and I made our way through the glasshouses a second time! We also walked along the edge of a field, and at the end we found a small wooden gazebo hidden in the trees with a sign on it that said "Come in!" (so different from the United States...!). Inside was a backpack full of kids books and a big teddy bear. We spent some time reading the books and arranging, rearranging, and rearranging some more the teddy bear. Finally, it was well after noon and she started to look a little droopy, so I convinced her to trudge back to the car. On the way, we came across two older women who were reviewing their map. When they saw us, they asked if we knew how to find the Gruffalo. We assured them that we did indeed, and pointed them in the right direction. They noticed that Leah was really flagging at this point, and one of them said to her, "Oh, bless, ye swatch a wee wabbit!" I don't know enough Scots to know what she meant, though I could guess, but I am assuming she has one of those Scots translations of the Gruffalo at her house!
P.S. It turns out that Leah's nursery went to the garden on Wednesday of the following week! I didn't do a very good job of taking photos during our trip, so I was pleased to see that the school took quite a few, and Leah is in many of them. She's the one in the turquoise coat, hanging from the Gruffalo's neck!
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