List o' fun--Franklin Park Conservatory

The Franklin Park Conservatory is a great place to take kids.  I think most people think conservatories are just for old people who want to look at plants, but it's much more than that.  Little Man especially likes to go when they have the butterfly exhibit going on, which goes March to July.

Of course, his other favorite thing is the mini train that is set up right by the entrance.  

He could sit there for hours watching that train go round and round. 

The whole little town is made out of trees.

The Conservatory often has Chihuly blown glass on display as well.

The current display will be taken down after tomorrow, but I'm sure they'll have it up again soon.

This is us standing under one of the places that has some glass.

some more while we walk...

Some crazy bird that scares me just a little

They were actually having a glass blowing demonstration, so we went and watched for a little bit.

Then they have this little hallway that has all sorts of hands on fun for kids.

It's very educational and the kids love it.

Then we moved on to the room where the butterflies were.  Is that the rain forest? I forget.

Anyway, there are also some fish in there that Little Man loves to feed.

More Chihuly glass.... looking for butterflies.

It's best to go on a sunny day.  On cloudy days they are less likely to be flying around and more likely to be hanging out on the windows.  Unfortunately, we went on a cloudy day.  But we did see a few.

Then right when you leave that area, there is a place where the butterflies are actually popping out of their chrysalis.  (Some are... some are already flying around, some still have wet wings, and some are just chrysalis).  Little Man will stand there forever and watch.  He's fascinated by it.

They actually do a butterfly release every day at 1.  A lady gives a 15 minute presentation and then lets some butterflies go.  We were going to watch, but it was a little too crowded and I didn't think Little Man was going to make it the entire 15 minutes.  But one of these days we'll check it out!

The Conservatory is a little pricey, but there are a lot of coupons floating around out there for discounts.  Also, if you don't have a coupon you can get a AAA discount.  It's not much, but it's something.

I didn't even show you all of it.  There are a few outside places as well, but it was just to cold the day we went.  There is also a park within walking distance that you can check out after your fun-filled day.