This past Saturday we took Evelyn to see butterflies at the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory, since she's been liking butterflies lately and pointing them out everywhere she sees them! We decided not to throw a party for her this year since she doesn't care for cake anyway (let's face it, parties for kids under 4 are more for the adults than the kids these days) and I can't have any either, plus I didn't have the energy to organize one... so I wanted to take her special instead in advance since I have to work late on her actual birthday.
I read that the one in Cambridge is smaller but better for younger kids compared to the one in Niagara (which we planned to check out last time we visited Niagara for our staycation but ended up not doing). It was also slightly closer so we made the 1.5 hour drive there! Honestly I was dreading the drive a bit since we don't do long trips often but it went by really smoothly. Evelyn napped the majority time there and I was even able to file her nails.
I knew it was small but it looked like a little greenhouse from the outside, quite easy to miss if it weren't for the sign... and it's literally in the middle of nowhere! We had a bunch of snow the day before so I was worried about the weather affecting the drive but luckily the conservatory is all indoors. I was expecting it to be busy since it's also the start of March break but we arrived around 11:30 with timed tickets purchased for noon and it wasn't that busy. They let us in early and it was a decently sized, brightly lit space with a coat room and nursing room with stroller parking area. No one was in the nursing room/stroller parking room though... I did see a few strollers but not many and I was the only one who left my stroller there haha. Since it's a small space, you don't really need a stroller if your little one can walk but I brought it just in case.
Once you walk inside the conservatory area... it was breathtaking! I didn't really pay attention to the current exhibit and I know next to nothing about butterflies, so when we were greeted by so many huge ones zooming everywhere around us I was quite surprised. I was expecting small butterflies of different varieties, not these huge beautiful morphos! They were almost like the size of bats or small birds and to be honest, being someone who isn't really fond of insects, they freaked me out a little at first because they were so big and they came quite close. But not Evelyn. She had a blast! I'm so happy she had a great time there.
They also had axolotls and a few other bugs and small creatures in two exhibit rooms outside of the conservatory. Which was nice to explore and take a break in between because we totally overdressed for the hot humid temperature inside the butterfly room. We spent about 1.5 hours here and went to a local pub for some lunch since the options and space at the cafe at the conservatory was limited and Fred read that it wasn't so great. The service was a bit slow and the food nothing special but Evelyn sat for the whole time without fussing (which almost never happens when we eat out) so I'll take that as a win.
The drive back wasn't that bad either, which is unusual for weekend traffic... overall it was a fun day and despite me wishing Evelyn will remember this, she probably won't... but that's okay! Hoping to make more happy memories with her in the years to come! Until next time!
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