Gardening Again

My sister and I made plans to bring the kids somewhere fun, dependant on the weather. There were a number of things I wanted to do with Maia this summer, but just couldn't figure out how I could keep Maia and Parker simultaneously safe without another adult, or someone who could help contain my busy girl. We threw out a number of options (beach, splash pad, children's museum)... but for several reasons, ended up back at the Gardens. Again. It's okay, though... Maia LOVES them, and hasn't tired a bit of going. And I got a chance to take some photos of some of the pretty things for a change. I didn't bring the "big camera" (the Nikon D80), just the point-n-shoot.

She does a good job holding hands, and Lydia and Adrian really enjoyed showing her the cacti in the Arid Garden and telling her not to touch them (while they did).

Lotus... or Water Lily? I think it's a lotus.

Maia throws a penny into the fountain in the Victorian Garden.

The garden is currently exhibiting the work of Dale Chihuly, a sculptor who works in glass. (Many have seen this work at the Bellagio in Vegas. I have not.) 

These, in the tropical conservatory, appear to be some of his Macchia series.

A bromeliad in the tropical conservatory.

An orchid (is this a lady slipper?)

The base of one of the Chihuly towers. It looks like chunks of amethyst.

We stopped for a snack before heading off to get wet.

And Parker was sad that we stopped moving during his nap.

Maia's a lot taller now, and can now play with boats in some of the other "lakes." Remember last year when she could only play in the shortest one?

One of the special activities for the day was painting the side walk with water. There were buckets of water with various sizes of paint brushes. Lydia was determined to paint the entire sidewalk, so they were going through lots of water. Maia would walk to the "lakes" and fill the buckets herself, with no assistance, and carry them back to their spot on the sidewalk.

Lydia's just getting started.

Maia decides it's easier just to dump the water. Besides, she really enjoys filling the buckets.

This was a great activity for the girls, especially. They didn't loose interest in 'painting' for a long time!

Adrian came over later, and painted Maia's name.

Maia continued helping Lydia get that whole sidewalk wet.

Before leaving the water area, Lydia asked to hold Parker, and did a great job.

Maia did manage to trip and skin her knee. It wasn't too bad, but it bled pretty quickly. She hardly noticed, and didn't cry. She was, however, quite insistent about getting a bandy (band-aid) for it, and fortunately (since I didn't bring my purse), Aunt Kathleen had one! The three of them did go on to play in the treehouse and in the story telling hut, but as I was feeding Parker during that time, I have no pics.

Adrian and Lydia love to "mother" Maia, and haven't fully realized how much older, more able, verbal and independent she is than six months ago. However, she rarely gets her pointy finger out to admonish them with her good ol' Nooo-wah! I do it my-sewf! and seems to tolerate their over-protectiveness fairly well. That said, they all did a great job, and had a good time. Maia was quite exhausted by the end of our 2+ hours and took a nice nap.