Thumbs up to MSU!  …Never in a million years would I have thought those words would be volunteered by me.  But today (as many of my friends stand up and cheer and my father writes me out of his will), I will put aside the maize and blue for just a moment.  A very. brief. moment.

The butterfly exhibit.  These popular attractions for parents and kids of all ages have cocooned themselves eveywhere from Chicago to the smallest of Michigan towns.  And it seemed that I had the only child on the earth who could care less about those darn butterflies.  Going to several different exhibits (or butterfly habitats if you prefer) at different ages she has not once shown any interest, until today.

I went with a new friend and her three kids to the Michigan 4-H Children’s Gardens https://4hgarden.cowplex.com/ on the campus of MSU.  They have this amazing outdoor garden made just for children, encouraging them to explore the plants and play among the flowers.  And inside the greenhouse, the butterfly room is made for children.  Everything was small and kid size and at kid level.  My daughter marched right up, dipped her finger in the honey water and got a butterfly on her finger.  As I’m in shock and running for the camera my friend shows me these great plastic magnifying glasses on strings so the little ones can put them around their necks and have fun discovering butterflies and flowers up close.  So much thought went into this tiny exhibit.  Unlike the others where its hard for the smaller tots to see themselves what’s going on, this one was really was made for children – to discover the butterfly, to walk right up to a plant at the ground level and watch a small caterpillar beginning to make it’s cocoon on the underside of a leaf.  …should probably admit even I was amazed a bit by seeing that.

I was expecting less than thrilled results from my daughter today at the butterfly house.  However, we had a wonderful day at the Children’s Gardens on the campus of Michigan State University, running in the sun and learning all about butterflies.  Almost enough to make me fond of Sparty, at least until fall anyway.