Definite signs of spring

It blows my mind that my friends in Illinois and Arkansas are getting snowed on when I'm having the most delightful spring weather here. Ah, well, their weather always heads over here after they're done with it, so I better enjoy the sunshine while I've got it.

Yesterday we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to see their butterfly exhibit. It was absolutely delightful; there were hundreds of butterflies fluttering all around you as you walk through. I thought Katie would be totally into it. Sadly, she thought they were "disgusting flying bugs" Then we watched a entomologist feed a cricket to a tarantula. What do you think Katie thought of that?? This is what I'm learning: never try to anticipate what Katie will think or like. She loved the tarantula, but Will "thought he was going to vomit" so he & I went down to see the dinosaurs....again.

Here's a dead leaf butterfly:
That's the only name that jumped out and stuck in my memory, but there were some seriously gorgeous butterflies in there. One that I wish I had gotten a good picture of was a huge royal blue & black one. It was breath-taking.

This one, I think, had a tiger-y name.
I thought this one was interesting: yellow and black on the underside, and black and yellow on the topside.
Here's my mom and Katie looking into the bug lab where they raise (hatch? not sure about that terminology) new insects for the live exhibits. Apparently their lifespan is just as short in captivity as it is in the wild. Ha!

I never would have thought Katie would be transfixed by a tarantula, but here's photographic evidence.

We walked right past the exhibit with the Hope Diamond and all the other amazing gemstones, but we had seen them the first time. Yes, that's right--with all the Smithsonian museums available to us, the only one we've seen so far is Natural History, twice.