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Adventure: The Butterfly Pavilion

3/13/2021

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REPOST:  This trip to the The Butterfly Pavilion took place in 2016.

​It was time for an adventure to the Butterfly Pavilion!

When I arrived there were a bunch of parents with tiny humans walking into the building. I laughed, and I hoped there would be enough interesting stuff for "big kids". There was.

I walked in, and this friendly elderly lady admitted me in, and told me there would be a release of new butterflies in about 5 minutes, so off I went to the part of the building with the butterflies. Don't let the name fool you, by the way. The Butterfly Pavilion has way more than butterflies. They have a plethora of bugs, arachnids, small sea creatures, and plants.

When you first walk in the door, there is this case that holds a bunch of cocoons, some of which were hatching.
The first type of butterfly I saw was the Owl Butterfly. It is super cool, and of course, looks like an owl. If you had two owl butterflies together, you could almost get a whole owl face made out of the butterfly's wings. How does nature come up with these designs? I'm incredibly fascinated.
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Owl Butterfly
After the initial tree where I saw this Owl Butterfly, there was a canopied tunnel that included all sorts of beautiful flowers. Namely these Angel's Trumpets:
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Angel's Trumpets
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I loved the atmosphere in the pavilion. The humidity and the warmth reminded me a lot of summer in Wisconsin, and I think every pore in my skin was happy. Every few minutes it would mist, and I just loved how nice it felt. I canNOT wait for summer. Gah.

Going around the bend through the tunnel there is this little pond, with koi fish and a yellow-eared slider turtle.
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The Pavilion Turtle
There were a lot of butterflies flying way above me, and I only brought my standard lens so I had to stick to photographing the butterflies that landed somewhat near me.  I have several other photographs on my external drive from this trip of butterflies from further away, but per usual, I will just be sharing the best ones here ;). 
This little guy was just perched on this leaf for the entirety of the time that the new butterflies were being released. During the release, the keeper taught us a few things about butterflies:

1. Butterfly wings are like human hair. If damaged, it doesn't harm the butterfly in a physical way, but of course it can affect the way the butterflies fly.

2. The Pavilion keeps puddles on the floor so that the butterflies who can't fly well yet can land on the ground and drink water to gain strength.
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Numata Longwing Butterfly
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My favorite butterfly of all, of course, is the beautiful Green Birdwing Butterfly. The beautiful green details on its wings stand out agains the black of its body and remainder of the wings.

The Green Birdwing Butterfly rests after recently being released into the Pavilion.

Below, a Lowii Swallowtail Butterfly joins the Green Birdwing Butterfly, both recently released. I'd like to think they are friends.
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Butterfly Friends
While the two butterfly friends were bigger bugs, there were little guys flying around too. By the time I made it to this little butterfly, I was over half-way around the loop. Check out this adorable Zebra Longwing Butterfly and it's little purple flower:
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Zebra Longwing Butterfly
This bromeliad was one of the last things I took a photograph of before leaving the butterfly room. I was attracted to it because of its bright colors, and I love the bead of water it holds in the center.
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Bromeliad
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Adventure: Bonnie Brae

3/7/2020

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Jeremiah and I decided to go on a day adventure over to the Bonnie Brae neighborhood in Denver. Bonnie Brae is Gaelic for "Pleasant Hill". I originally thought the neighborhood was named after some pioneer woman, but it turns out it's not!

The touristy part of the neighborhood is one short block, but it boasts an adorable ice cream parlor, a quaint gift shop, and a great coffee shop to hang out at.
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The ice cream parlor was the first place Jeremiah and I went to, and in case you're wondering, it is fittingly named Bonnie Brae Ice Cream. We had to park around the block, this place is so busy!

It was a super nice day today in Denver, at 70 degrees, we decided to sit on the bench outside and enjoy our cones. Jeremy got chocolate with cappuccino crunch, and I got chocolate with coffee.
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After we finished our ice cream, we headed over to this gift shop called Wish Gifts, which was right across the street. It's a super cute store and I highly recommend it for gift shopping. We ended up buying a birthday present for Jeremy's youngest brother, Joshua, and we bought ourselves a new coin bank that looks like a globe.

We walked down the rest of the block, crossed back over to the other side of the street, and went to this coffee shop called Ink!. 
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The coffee shop was awesome. Not only was the coffee excellent, but they had giant Jenga out on the patio, along with corn hole!

Jeremy and I played a game of Jenga, and we did pretty well considering the blocks were a bit wobbly. The top half was like a leaning tower for a good while, but eventually evened out as we kept removing more blocks. In the picture to the left, you can see the stack with several missing blocks.

After we played Jenga, we played several rounds of corn hole. I greatly improved my tossing skills today thanks to Jeremy's coaching, and actually shot the bean bag into the hole at least five times. I don't think I've ever scored in corn hole before today.

After the coffee shop, there wasn't much else to do, so we went for a drive. Jeremy ended up showing me the first home he lived in as a child, his first elementary school, day care, and childhood friends' houses.

After we got home, we let the bunnies out on the porch since the weather was so beautiful. It was Midna's very first day out on the porch! She's the little black bunny :). As you can see in the pictures below, she's about half of the size of Tetra. After I had them settled outside with their water and food, it was time for me to give the Golden Girls a bath while Jeremy swept up the condo.
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You can just see the anticipation in Sequoia's face.

The Golden Girls each got shampooed and rinsed off. I let Sequoia out of the tub first, and had to hold her in a wrestling position to rub her dry with a beach towel. Autumn, of course, was much more calm and let me dry her off. Of course, I couldn't get them completely dry, so they went to hang out with their bunny sisters on the porch.

All the girls are back inside now that it is dark, and they are all tuckered out. It was a great day!
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Adventure:  Golden, Colorado

1/28/2020

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Golden, Colorado is a quaint town which is nestled up to the Rocky Mountains eastern front, not too far from Denver. It's one of those towns that offers everything while maintaining the "small-town feel" and intimacy. Of all of the day adventures I have gone on in Colorado, Golden is still one of my favorite places to visit.
The Clear Creek river runs right through it and ventures into the mountains, allowing even the non-athlete to enjoy beautiful mountain scenery. The paths that run along the creek even have areas for you to go down and wade in the water, or stand on the rocks that run along the shore. You can branch off on various trails, coming upon the Confession Tree, old automobiles forever stuck in the mountain terrain, or of course, more gorgeous Colorado nature.
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Besides Clear Creek, Golden also is the home to the Coors brewery, which needs no introduction. I have yet to do a brewery tour, but it is definitely on my list of things to do.
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Downtown Golden is home to many locally owned shops and restaurants. Every restaurant I have eaten at in Golden has had superb food, and all of the shops boast unique gifts. 
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I love Golden so much, that I have hiked there three times (with and without other people and furbabies), I have shot a senior portrait session there, and I opted to have my very own engagement photos taken there this last Sunday.

Just trust me and go to Golden if you haven't been. If you're visiting Colorado, make sure to add this to your list. If anything, the drive up to Lookout Mountain will be the Colorado Experience you are looking for.
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Adventure: Standley Lake

9/8/2018

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Beautiful view. Beautiful lake. Ugly beach.

I wish the city and suburbs of Denver could appreciate what they have a teensy bit more. This beautiful lake with these breathtaking mountain views was surrounded with a beach covered in trash. 
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Jeremy and I took the golden girls to this lake today for an adventure. It was enjoyable getting out into nature. Per usual, Jeremy took charge of walking the puppies, his backpack full of water bottles and a collapsable dog bowl, while I carried my photography equipment.
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Sequoia, the little one, has been learning to walk on her leash, and we have her wear a leader to help slow her down. When she becomes full grown we will get them harnesses so that they can't get tangled in their leashes on these walks (we had to untangle them a couple of times).

As you can see, the lake was very blue. It was gorgeous. There were several people boating and fishing, enjoying the water. I just wish the beach was more well taken care of.

At the end of the beach we had to climb up to the main trail. The trail itself is very pretty, with nature surrounding you on either side, and there were plenty of benches for people to relax and enjoy the view of the mountains and the lake.
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There were several picnic areas as well. It's definitely a place with a lot of recreational potential! I can definitely see why it is a popular trail, now for the beach to become more clean and enjoyable!
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Adventure: Daniel's Park

8/27/2018

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I have a mental list in my head of parks I love and will or have returned to repeatedly, and a list of parks that I'll never go to again. Sorry, Daniel's Park of Castle Pines, Colorado, I won't be returning to you.

I personally felt that Daniel's Park was lacking a lot of potential for the amount of land it has. Basically, you enter the park and follow a gravel trail that runs alongside the road. There were only two place to leave this trail that went out to overlooks, but they were short and the two overlooks gave the same view.

I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, just realistic. I won't be going back. It's a great exercise park (for walking or biking back and forth on the trail), but not much for photography purposes.

With that all being said.... I still had a wonderful time with my honey bunches of oats, Jeremiah, his brother, Nathan, and the Golden Girls, Autumn and Sequoia.
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Nathan and Autumn
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Jeremiah and Sequoia
If there had been trails that went into the canyon or more trees (shade, please), we probably would have been in love with this park. 

Also, it was Sequoia's first big walk on the leash. She did relatively well. The lead (the part that goes around her nose) helped a ton with her pulling, but she kept trying to get it off. What else would you expect from a puppers?
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Nathan and Sequoia
I did enjoy that we got to see bison, even if they weren't wild. They were so far away that even my telescopic lens had a little trouble getting a closer up shot.
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I also really enjoyed this farmhouse. Not sure why. I think it is adorable.
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    Rebecca

    Photographer, visual artist, mother to five fur-babies, and travel enthusiast.

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