Butterfly Exhibit & Confirmation

As we waited in line for the butterfly exhibit, we were entertained by a "butterfly man." Dressed in butterfly wings and a straw hat covered in parrot feathers, he entertained the crowds for hours. He had several different bits that he rotated through. He would start at one section of the line and play a a guessing game about his first name. He said that it started with the letter "E" and everyone in that section of the line would guess. Ebenezer, Eric, Edward, Ed, Eron, ... etc. The section of the line that played this game was hidden around a corner so that only that some were able to play and hear the answer. The butterfly man would then continue to the beginning of the line and proceed to the end and explains to everyone that we will all do the stadium wave. We did several versions, even one in which we made different noises, like mooing like a cow. He also carried around and snapped a pair of metal salad tongs that he used to delve out spiced bug. He would pick a section of line and pass out small meal worms that were coated in cheese. Grandma and Mike tried one and said they tasted like a Cheeto.

We finally got to the head of the line and into the butterfly exhibit. It is in the Hidden Jungle in the park which changes all the time and often has different birds, butterflies, insects, etc. This time it is filled with butterflies and was great. We took a ton of pictures and wandered around watching them all. We had to be careful not to step on any that landed on the ground and not to touch them. Mike had a butterfly land on his arm and didn't want to come off. He was stuck with it on his arm until we went to leave. There was a Park employee at the door that had you twirl in front of them so that they could check you for butterflies. He managed to carefully get the butterfly off of Mike before we left.

By this time we were pretty warm out and tired from the sun. We drove back to the hotel and all changed and prepared for dinner and Devon's Confirmation. We went across the freeway from the hotel to the Old Spaghetti Factory for a nice big dinner. Devon and Grandma had to go early to the church for rehearsal so we all took our time before heading over. Devon got confirmed at St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Oceanside which is a new church but very traditional. We got there before the church opened so we waited in the car because it was very cold. The sodium lights in the parking lot made everything black and white. Grandma had jelly beans which all looked black and white. Bree was trying to knit and got stuck at one point because she couldn't tell what was orange, gray or one of two shades of blue.

At the beginning of the ceremony we all met outside around a giant bonfire. Everyone who was baptised got a candle that was lit inside after the ceremony started. There were several people that were getting confirmed, baptised and taking first communion. The ceremony was three hours long though, with lots of chanting. Very interesting but a long time to stand. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to rest.