Tofu-Family Vacation, Day 2

Day two we woke up bright and early, made ourselves breakfast in our suite and headed out for the day.

First stop, Butterfly Gardens.

In typical overzealous Mom fashion, I was excited. I have to admit I scheduled this because it was listed as a popular and Kid Friendly place.

It sounded perfect, I thought my kids would love walking among tropical flowers, palm trees, orchids and hundreds of beautiful free-flying butterflies, just like the brochure suggested...

Well, the brochure and I didn't take fully into account that my younger two Sprouts are VERY "bug phobic". Bless their hearts, they did try, (see? I have proof, she's smiling for the picture) but the sight of all those fluttery wings, wiggly antennae and creepy long legs was almost more than they could handle...

So we didn't spend nearly as long as I would have liked in the Butterfly Gardens, but it was still worth it - it was interesting and beautiful and we did see (and photograph) many of the 50+ species (some rare and endangered) that are free to flutter, eat and land wherever they please among the plants, trails, and visitors to the center.

Next stop, and the one I was most anticipating for the week, was the world famous Butchart Gardens.

The weather was beautiful, almost too warm for strolling around looking at plants (which were a little boring, according to my kids). I knew this wouldn't be their favorite part of the week and was prepared to spend less time with the pretty flowers than I would have liked.

I thought the gardens were, of course A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I could have spent a couple days here.

We returned to the city and found a great little sandwich shop for a late lunch.

My grilled panini even had vegan cheese which the kids thought was so cool they had to photograph. Pfffft. Mom eating, how exciting is THAT?

After doing a little tourist-y type shopping and sightseeing and silly picture taking, we headed back to our hotel.

I'd promised the girls a ride in one of the city's eco-friendly Prius taxis so we grabbed one for the few blocks back.

The bear is in front of our hotel. He's part of a collection of decorated bears throughout Vancouver Island called "Spirit Bears". We loved how this guy welcomed us home every evening...

After the most healthy supper of ramen noodles and a fresh fruit salad in the room, we hung out in the pool for the evening.

The girls loved the cushy hotel robes and think they would make excellent souvenirs. I had to explain they were definitely NOT part of the 'take-home' goodies provided for the guests!