Thursday, April 30, 2015

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory-Cambridge Ontario Photographer

First post, new venture.

In hopes of bringing my photography career and my family life together in one cohesive and fun environment I am launching this newest blog endeavour.

The Wandering Momtog (me) will be a travel meets parenting blog featuring the fun adventures me and my boys go on. I love to choose experiences for them that are both educational and interactive and can't wait to revisit multiple local facilities and share my point of view as a parent of a toddler and preschooler as well as my observations of older and younger children and their parents experiences.

The first place we wandered to was the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory located at 2500 Kosuth Road, Cambridge Ontario. I have been a fan of the conservatory for many years now. It's the perfect place to go to warm your bones on those cold damp fall-winter-spring days. It's wheelchair & stroller accessible and although my littles were totally happy to be running walking around the facility I found myself a little stressed out on my toes keeping my guys on the paths meant for visitors and off the paths meant for employees.

The section of the facility that holds the 2000 free flying moths and butterflies, 15 species of exotic birds, 100 species of exotic plants is a temperature of anywhere between 24°C (75°F) to 28 ºC (82°F) with high humidity so dressing in layers is a must. The kids were dressed in shorts but I wore jeans, t-shirt and flip flops and my jeans were sticking to me I was wearing my regret purchase pleather pants that are sitting the back of my closet somewhere. This may sound like a complaint, however I enjoyed getting a sweat on after the winter we have had. 

 Both boys were drawn to the water features that circle the facility and include two waterfalls that add to the feeling of being on a tropical excursion (sans the tiki bar). There are strategically places benches to sit and enjoy the warmth and the beauty of the butterflies and birds fluttering about your head....if you left the kids at home that is. This mom was too busy chasing my wee bubby around while his brother climbed every possible rock feature he could. Good times where had by all.

Cost of admission is $11.50 per adult and $10.25 for youth (13-17) and $6 for children 3 and over. Littles under 3 are free and seniors are the same price as youth. There's a part of me that feels that the cost of admission is kind of steep for the 2 hours I was there, but that part of me is the cheap bargain shopping, penny pinching momma. The reality is that this facility champions multiple conservation efforts and provides a wonderful education experience to visitors and our local schools alike. They also offer a membership that is extremely affordable that pays for itself if you visit more then 3 times per year, and trust me dead of winter weekly visits will be a welcome part of the routine.

The facility has a nice sized cafe area aptly named Paradise Cafe which uses fresh local ingredients some of which are grown on site. The boys and I didn't actually eat and of the delicious sounding menu, as a popsicle on the outdoor patio was our meal of choice, however the Butterfly Conservatory does hold weddings, conferences, and special occasion brunches all of which are very reasonably priced.

This beautiful facility is such a wonder for kids both young and old and draws a nice sized crowd on a daily basis. Kids can stop by the learning centre where there are butterflies and moths hatching daily as well as some fun critters to hold or pet. Outside of the butterfly gardens is more learning opportunity so if you need to cool off or find a place less stimulating to calm the wee ones down you can check out the exhibits and enjoy the live beehive feature.

Overall, this is one of my favourite places to go and I am extremely proud we have such a facility in the Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo area. It comes highly recommended by this mom, however I gently advise: Be on your toes if your little ones are adventurous.



















































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