Butterfly Festival

My mom started a wonderful tradition with Ainsley when she was turning 2 years old. She takes her to the Butterfly Festival at Powell Gardens every August which is usually the weekend before her birthday. This was our 4th year to attend. Ainsley's first birthday party theme was butterflies which started the slight obsession with them...
Brynn got to join in the fun the summer she was born. She was about 8 weeks old at her first visit. Brooke went with us last year for her first visit. She was about 4 1/2 months old. This year was a lot of fun because all 3 girls were old enough to really explore and enjoy some of the things we have skipped in the past. We rode the trolley for the first time, did the catepillar scavenger hunt, checked out the big bugs and the girls got their faces painted! We also did a lot of the same "traditions" we do each year like have our pictures taken on the butterfly bench, have the girls stick their faces through the butterfly cut-out for pictures, paint flower pots and pick out a special something in the gift shop.
This is such a special thing that my mom does for the girls. Each year we pull up to the front of her house to pick her up and she has the front steps/yard decorated with all of the butterfly things she can find. This includes large blow-up chairs and rocking toys. Everyone dresses up in butterfly themed clothing. My mom makes photo albums of the year before which they discuss on the (long) drive to Powell Gardens. She also brings a huge bag of butterfly themed children's book to read to the girls in case they get bored... which they don't (but we did get stuck in construction traffic this year, so the books were great!).
My girls are so blessed to have such a great Mimi who cares about things like traditions, picture taking and family.