Jon and Kate Plus Eight - Butterflies and Water Rockets

With Kate seeing how the drama of life has gone, Kate wanted to make sure that she spent time with her children in smaller groups. She recalls that Cara went with Jon to Utah and Kate went with Mady to San Diego for girl time. Recently, Kate took the boys to the ranch and the girls needed a trip to even the tally. Kate decided to throw a quick trip to Florida as a last minute vacation before school started. They picked an area near the Sunny Isles Beach and did several day events that were nearby.

They first made a visit to Butterfly World and met their guide Mary Jane. Mary Jane explains that that the butterflies come from a lot of different places including South and Central America and they are allowed to fly around. Hannah wonders what they feel like and the girls are all allowed to touch them. They all giggle and Kate even had a chance to touch them. A butterfly lands on one girl and she couldn't help but laugh as the butterfly crawled up her dress and arm. Kate was surprised on how large the place was because she found out that they had a lab with billions of butterflies. As the cocoons hatch, they have regular releases. The girls had the opportunity to set some of them free. A butterfly perches on Kate's hair. Kate is even more surprised to find that Butterfly World had Macaw Parrots. They are a also parrot rescue site because parrots can outlive humans.

Back at home Jon buys the boys a water rocket. He wants to do "destructive man stuff." He decides to forgo the instructions and gets really confused. Collin suggests reading the instructions and he eventually gets everything assembled. He explains that there is a bottle of water a bicycle pump. The pump causes pressure in the bottle and it helps the thing go.

Kate continues their trip at Butterfly World going past a bridge to a bird sanctuary. The girls had cups of nectar to feed the birds. While Hannah didn't want to carry the nectar, Alexis and Leah fed birds with their cups. The birds shocked them with their quick nature. One bird bit Kate, while two argued with each other. Kate laughed because she compared it to her children fighting over food at home. Kate decided that she wanted eight birds on her to represent her children and one worker (who she dubbed the bird man) placed eight birds on her arms. She warbles with the birds.

Jon continued to struggle pumping air into the rocket. The paparazzi even looked at him confused as to what he was doing. The pressurizer was off and the thing went only seven feet up. He decided to make sure the pressurizer's seal was really tight the second time and it was "hilarious."

Kate will never forget the next moment of her trip. Kate went with the children to the Insectarium section of the Butterfly World. She has no words to describe her experience. She felt like she was bait and switched into an area with the most disgusting bugs. They first passed a section with bugs that were pinned and in frames. Kate hesitated for the next section which was called the "bug zoo."

In the bug zoo, Kate tapped her hands nervously. The girls rushed immediately to each of the different stations while Kate waited nearby the door. She inched closer to the girls but got really scared when the girls chased her with bugs. They held cockroaches, spiders, and grasshoppers. They wanted to show Kate a millipede by getting her to close her eyes. She gets scared of the bug, starts to back up and her head grazes some leaves. She starts to freak out thinking it was a bug on her head. She laughs hysterically as she ran to the exit.

Jon continued to get the rocket launched. After putting the pressure tight, the rocket finally flew hundreds of feet in the sky amusing the children. Jon noted how fun it was, but how hard it was to build up all the pressure. The kids kept launching the rocket several times. They tried it with the stabilizers on the end and then several times without. They had so much fun that Jon decided to fill a milk crate with water balloons and threw it on the floor. Jon was surprised that the kids didn't get the concept that they were supposed to throw them at each other. The twins understood it and popped them on their head. They then play with the hose.

Kate understands that bugs are part of the big picture in the circle of life but she doesn't want to care for them. During the interview, Alexis comes out of the door brings the millipede to her mother. She continues to chase her mother down until she walked back. Kate is happy to see that the kids were having fun at Butterfly World. The owner of Butterfly World was so surprised how the five-year-olds had no fear holding the bugs. The girls went to the souvenir shop and picked out a present. They thanked the owners and said goodbye to the butterflies.

It was Day 2 of the Florida trip and Kate decided that they should do a hot air balloon trip. She didn't know that the family had to do it early in the morning. They had to change location several times because of the wind. Kate was looking for coffee that early in the morning. They couldn't get adjusted to the Florida crab grass and kept itching. The kids talk about being in the "air hot balloon," and continued to walk in the crab grass. Her heels kept sinking in she was even more dumbfounded why she thought of wearing a skirt and heels.

Carlos introduces himself as the pilot and gets stools for the family to get in. The girls are lifted in and they had to instantaneously get in. She had to tastefully figure out how to get herself in with the short skirt. The girls finally got in and saw the sights. Kate didn't realize how hot the fire was that kept the balloon up. The girls complained about the fire and even though she gave them water. Kate realized that with the fire going they couldn't talk, so she eventually just made faces every time they had more fire. The trip was a little shorter than the pilot expected, but the kids were happy.

Jon purchased a wiffleball pitching machine and the boys and twins were trying it out. Jon was happy that the kids got it and Cara got it really quickly. The boys had fun hitting the wiffleballs. Jon was reminded of his father who passed away four years ago during the time. He's happy being like his father with him.

Kate reminisces about the trip and is joyous to see the girls mature. The girls still talk about the trip. She's happy that the girls were provided yet another life experience. She is happy that they turned out to be well adjusted to everything.