The Butterflies and Blooms exhibit opens Friday, May 23 at the Woodland Park Zoo, inspiring another year of longing in my daughter. She wants nothing more than for a butterfly to alight on her. She stands stone-still (difficult for an 8-year-old kid), barely breathing, hoping to look like a gargantuan version of the flowers blooming along the path.

And they never land on her. No, they land on me. On the other hand, mosquitoes also drink from the fount of Lora all summer long.

But with nearly 1,000 of the winged beauties flying through the tentlike exhibit, you might also win at butterfly roulette.

To better your chances, Rebecca Whitham of the Woodland Park Zoo suggests wearing bright colors. Butterflies are most active on sunny days, and mornings provide the highest insect-to-visitor ratio.

"If you don't have any luck attracting butterflies in the exhibit, you can try to attract them to your own garden at home," Whitham says, with the attraction's planting tips. Outside the domed tent, a landscape provides an example of a model Northwest butterfly garden, a Four Seasons Hotel for the high-flying set.

And on Saturday, May 24, the zoo welcomes more colorful winged creatures, when the Flamingo Exhibit opens with 25 Chilean flamingos. Opening day features interactive fun, such as life-sized flamingo nests and eggs.

I really hope a flamingo doesn't land on me.

Eagle-eyed docents make sure kids don't play poke-the-zebra-longwing, and admission is $1. Read more -- and play butterfly bingo -- at the Butterflies and Blooms Web site.

E-mail Lora Shinn with tips at littlekidsbigcity@nwsource.com. Read previous Little Kids, Big City posts on the index page.

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