Butterflies in Bloom

Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day in West Michigan so Rob and I decided to spend it enjoying the butterfly exhibit and sculpture park at Frederik Meijer Gardens! 

Tropical Vegetation from the Butterfly Garden

Almost everyone else in the area must have had a similar idea....because that place was BUSY!  We parked way out in the boonies, but luckily they have plenty of space!  Once we ventured up to the actual building, we waited in quite a long line!  The sun was shining and there were things here and there to look at, on top of the people watching, so the waiting wasn't torture.  Plus, the line actually moved fairly quickly. 

After paying the line took us into a couple of greenhouse rooms where we could view and enjoy some interesting vegetation. 

Butterflies!!

First up was the Earl and Donnalee Holton Arid Garden.  This room was full of cacti and other plants that survive in some of the driest and most arid climates across the world!  Next up was the Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse which currently was hosting The Caterpillar Room.  There were a bunch of Spring flowers in bloom.  It was also fun to see which plants were hiding caterpillars!  Then the line wound us through the Earl and Donnalee Holton Victorian Garden Parlor where Rob and I decided we should probably own a home where we could have a giant atrium and host weekly brunches!  Haha, if only! 

Then we finally made it to the Butterflies!!  This exhibit was recently renamed Fred & Dorothy Fitcher Butterflies Are Blooming to honor a couple who shared so many wonderful memories in the exhibition!  Dorothy Fitcher passed away last year and her husband, Fred, made a generous gift to permanently sponsor the exhibit in her memory.  What a romantic and fitting tribute!

Here's the first thing we saw!!!

Then a bunch of fluttering throughout the rest of our exploration of the exhibit!!! 

 

We even got a chance to see one of the tropical birds in the exhibit chowing down on some feed!

There were seriously butterflies everywhere!  Some landed on people, some landed on leaves for a bit, like this guy! 

 

There was a pretty little waterfall and bridge inside of the exhibit too.  It was like a mini-tropical escape! 

  

 

There was even an exhibit showing the different stages of caterpillars in cocoons.  They were all live; some were still completely cocooned, some freshly hatched and drying their wings and even one mid-hatching.  You can see it moving just the tiniest bit! 

 



After spending quite a bit of time with these magical winged creatures, we wandered through the rest of the gardens and sculpture park.  We stopped in the Nelson Carnivorous Plant House and checked out the strange Pitcher Plants and the Venus Flytraps. 

We walked the Frey Boardwalk around the Wetlands and spied some wildlife including Canadian Geese, Swans, and even a Muskrat!  We checked out some local vegetation in the Michigan Farm Garden, and then roamed through the Frostic Woodland Shade Garden. 

We learned there will be a new exhibit opening in June of this year, the Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Garden.  From what they have up right now, a gazebo and a little bridge, it looks like it's going to be a good one! 

We then took a stroll through the Sculpture Park.  There were a lot of headless pieces, several abstract works, and a few things we though would fit well in a Tim Burton film.  No trip is complete without a visit to the giant horse sculpture, so we checked him out.  Obviously Rob and I have very little understanding of sculpted art - we just don't get it most of the time. 

After out outdoor excursion we made our way back inside to check out the Splendors of Shiga: Treasures From Japan collection on loan from various collectors and museums.  There were some really neat artifacts from as early as the 14th Century.  It's amazing to see how well they held up over the years. 

Unfortunately I kind of forgot to take photos outside the butterfly exhibit, and they weren't allowed in the Splendors of Shiga exhibit, but I mean....the butterflies really were the stars of the day!

Have you been to the Frederik Meijer Gardens?  What was your favorite part?  

If you're interested in planning a trip, they are open most days until 5pm.  The Butterflies Are Blooming exhibition runs until April 30th, so there's still time if you're interested in that!  There really is something for the whole family to enjoy at the Gardens!  They have tram rides around the sculpture park and a special children's garden too! 

Easter Weekend Roamings

So I've been a bit of a bad blogger, huh?!  You'd almost think I gave up blogging for Lent!  Hah, I didn't....I just had absolutely no desire to do anything particular so I didn't really have much to share!  It's been a lazy couple of months to say the least.  But this weekend I got out of the house - out of Grand Rapids and went on a little adventure with my beau!!

Our anniversary is coming up this week so I took Rob on a weekend date-cation to celebrate!  I kind of gave away the surprise a month ago or so, so I could plan around  his on-call schedule or anything else that could possibly interfere with our fun!  I "surprised" him with tickets to a Tigers Game so we headed over to Detroit on Friday to make a weekend of it.

▲▼▲ FRIDAY ▲▼▲

I took Friday off work so I could relax, clean the apartment, do some laundry, etc., etc., etc. When Rob got home we headed out.  Of course we had to make a quick stop at the Outlet Mall in Howell on our way across the state!  I replenished my candle collection with some great Spring/Summer scents and took home a few new clothing steals too!  (Okay, truth telling time - I gave up Shopping for Lent.  I was really good this time - so I figured it was okay to cheat a little so close to the end!  I mean, I didn't go crazy or anything!!) ☺

We arrived in Detroit around 8ish and checked in to the hotel, cleaned ourselves up and ventured out into the night in search of dinner!  Rob had heard good things about Fishbones, so we went there!  We started with Flaming Cheese!!  Rob had Jambalaya and I got a Crunch Roll.  Both were delicious!  They had a HUGE menu - and everything looked terrific - I definitely recommend checking them out if you're ever in the area!

Next we wandered over to the Greektown Casino - and managed to go in the back door!  There's a whole little village of shops and eatery type places back there, complete with faux shrubbery!  Neither one of us is much of a gambler.  In fact, we were watching some of the table games and decided that we basically understood nothing that was going on...so we made our way to the video game side - Hello Penny Slots!  I lost $3.00 and Rob somewhere around $6.00ish.  We did some people watching and exploring and then decided to wander back to the hotel, finding ourselves in the hotel bar for a nightcap before heading up to our room for the night!

▲▼▲ SATURDAY ▲▼▲

Game Day!  We woke up, grabbed a quick bite to eat and some coffee and headed out to Tailgate a bit.  The Tigers played the LA Angels and even won 5-2 which was awesome because they kind of got their butts kicked the night before!  The weather turned out great too!!!  The beer was flowing and our seats were in the sunshine so we even got a little pink-cheeked (with a minor case of raccoon-eye) - oh the wonderful beginning signs of summer!!  ☼  Rob picked up some new Tiger Gear (a shirt and a hat) and I got a tee-shirt too - my first official Tiger merch (not counting a VS tee from a few years back)!  

We did a post-game dinner / beer deal at the Detroit Beer Company - Rob had the 'Hair of the Dog' Burger and I devoured a Grilled Cheese with bacon and granny smith apples! Yum!!  After dinner we headed back to the room, relaxed a bit in the hot tub and then popped down to the hotel bar again!  Creatures of habit, you know...  Deciding that we wanted to get out on the town a little more, but not wanting to venture too far out we headed across the street and discovered this little po-dunk, hole-in-the-wall bar called The Bathtub Pub.  It was interesting - kind of looks like it's closed on the outside, but its just a great little secret spot.  We even got a basket of free fries (I don't personally like potatoes, but Rob enjoyed them) - either way, it was a nice gesture.  We were introduced to a new weird little cartoon called Golan the Insatiable (something about a cast-out demon and the little goth girl he befriends)?  One more trip to the other hotel bar and that was a night.  

▲▼▲ SUNDAY ▲▼▲

Happy Easter!  We checked out, had breakfast/lunch at Lafayette Coney Island and headed home....or to IKEA rather!  I tried the meatballs!!!  Finally...tricked out with gravy and lingonberry jam....and they were awesome!  We got some new trow pillows and shams and a new summer comforter because ours is too warm.  We ended up back in GR around 4:45pm and were welcomed home by a noisy little kitty!  The Easter Bunny even dropped by with a little surprise!  We wrapped up Easter with a low-key pasta dinner and some relaxing couch time!  And, we started watching Bob's Burgers on Netflix - which we both like so far!  It's kind of one of those sick-funny animated sitcoms for adults - similar to something along the same line as Family Guy or The Simpsons.  

The weekend was fabulous - and getting away for a little while was just what we both needed!  Hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter weekend!  

Weekend Recap: Teenage Vamps, Bubble Tea and Brews

 

This past weekend was pretty laid back, but definitely successful! 

My bestfriend, Allison, came in town for a visit and we popped over to the theater to enjoy a viewing of Vampire Academy!  It was okay; nothing life-changing, but I enjoy most movies I see without too much extra thought!  Would I recommend it to the masses: probably not, but if you gravitate toward anything labeled "Young Adult" then this might be right up your alley!  I'm basically a 28-year-old child when it comes to books, TV and movie selections!  So, teen vampires in high school - I couldn't resist!

We enjoyed some Fro-yo Friday before the show and then made an appearance at Founders Brewing Company afterward, and finally wrapped up the evening at the Casa over a few more brews and some Netflix!

On Saturday, when we finally managed to coax ourselves out into the world, we went in search of Bubble Tea!  We both acquired a fondness for the delicious jelly bubbles in college, but we had yet to discover a place that could compare!

Enter:  The Sparrows! 

Forgive the glare!  We actually had some sun!

We LOVED it!  So much so that we each enjoyed two teas a piece!  (We couldn't resist grabbing one to-go!)

It was an adorable little café tucked away on Wealthy Street!  If you're in the GR area, definitely check it out!  They have so many options!

Here's a peek at the inside!  All those jars on top of the counter are different loose tea options!!

The menu had so many tasty looking drinkable treats it was a tough decision, but I knew I had to follow my heart and go for the Bubble Tea! 

 

And just to make things even harder to decide they had all these awesome options....

 

We'll definitely be working trips here into our future bestie outings!!!  I tried the Boba Fett special for my to-go tea and wasn't disappointed!  I was really curious about the popping boba, which the gal behind the counter described as being kind of like "Gushers!"  (Tell me you remember those fun little delights - chewy on the outside like a fruit roll-up but when you squish it between your teeth - you're met with a sweet gooey semi-liquid fruit ooze surprise!)  Unfortunately the popping boba weren't quite that interesting, but they were still pretty good.  The didn't ooze, but they did definitely POP! and kind of explode with fruity juicy stuff - so still a pretty cool surprise!  Call me a traditionalist though, I still prefer the plain ole' traditional tapioca pearls!

If you do go, make sure to pit stop at the bathroom!  There's only one, it's gender neutral, and the pot, the sink, and such are all pretty average - but it's decorated with old window frames, which looks pretty cool.  Here's a panoramic for your viewing pleasure!  (I tried to keep pot's and such out of it, so it's a little wiggly, but free interweb high five to whoever can spot me!)

We capped off our evening with a stop off at our favorite watering hole, LOGAN'S ALLEY!  I managed to cross off two more beers from my list Around the World!  (I'll be sharing the whole shebang once I finally finish!)

And, I even got to see my sister for a few on Sunday!  She crept in late on Saturday night to sleep after her friend's birthday party! 

Hope you all had a great weekend too!!!  I want to read all about it, so make sure to link-up with Dateless in Dallas and Showered With Design for Weekend Recap!!

No Power

Our power went out this morning when I was crawling out of the nest I like to call bed!  Rob was mid-breakfast making, and because he's such an awesome boyfriend, he started with mine!  I got to eat pancakes and the poor guy got nothing but bacon and bits and pieces of what I'm sure was going to be some sort of epic scramble or omelette creation!  

We spent the morning and early afternoon curled up on the couch, Gatsby too, layered with blankets and mountains of throw pillows!  I caught up on my I watched vidoes From some of my favorite YouTubers (Leighann, Ingrid, Fleur, and Stephanie and Tracy) while Rob played on his laptop!  At this point we learned that there were 22,000 people in Kent County without power and that our estimated turn-on time was 11:30pm!  Still in blanket city on couch hill we moved on to watching a few episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on my little iPad Mini!  

We then made an executive decision to head to Founder's...because they had power, beer, sandwiches...you know, all the necessities!  So, I hopped in the shower and put myself together best I could in the dark (still haven't gotten to play with my Naked 2 palette...boo!)!  Thankfully our water heater is gas and not electric, unlike our stove! 

We just arrived at Founders and much to my surprise they have Frangelic Mountain Brown back on draft!  It's one of my favorites!!!! And they're piloting a batch of Choco Pom, which is (as the name implies) a combo of chocolate and pomagranate!  Can't wait to give that a try!!!  But, alas our cheer is short lived!!!  Now our power back-on estimate is December 26th in he afternoon!!!  And, yes - it's only the 22nd!!  For anyone into facts and numbers, the word on the street is that 10% of the entire community of Consumers Energy users is currently without power!  

Looks like we'll be tising the season old school!  Just pray I don't burn the apartment down!!! 

I'll update as I know more!  But until then, "Cheers!"