Wow - talk about a busy day..
It started off early with 5 kids because N and C spent the night. They were all up by 8 AM and we were out the door by 9 AM to get to the Botanic Gardens. I picked today to go because it was going to be a little cooler. I hoped that they would slow everyone down so we could do some learning and enjoy the gardens.
First, we hit the Children's Garden so we could do some running around.
Andrew loved to run back and forth over the bridge.
Skylar can always find an animal to pose with - this time she found a fox.
At the bottom of the Children's area, there was a little mechantile store, vegetable garden and pool. The kids didn't want to play in the mud (thank goodness) so they washed all the fruit many many times.
One mom came over and yelled at her kids to not put the vegetables in the water even though my 5 plus 4 others were putting them in the water. Andrew spoke up right away in front of her and asked, "why won't that mean mom let him play with us?" She left immediately after that.
One of my favorite things about the Gardens is being able to use our senses. Skylar is learning about senses at school so it was a great day to reinforce what she has been learning.
We touched plants that we thought were going to be prickly that ended up soft.
We touched plants that responded to our touch - the picture of the plant was blurry but I got the name so I could buy some.
We even found plants that we had eaten before and got to see what it looks like before it is ready to eat. This is an ugly fruit as a baby.
Cairn's favorite plant is the lamb's ear - we have some growing in our yard but it doesn't look like this and isn't as soft.
We used our sight to find small fruits such as grapes. At first, they didn't notice the grapes - they had just seen the large leaves. I told them to look under the leaves and they thought they had found gold. They all wanted to eat one but I said no.
Then someone realized that the water was blue. I wanted to find a worker to ask why the water was blue but could only find volunteers that didn't want to answer any questions.
N said he could see the bottom of the pool so everyone crowded in to see the bottom.
The new art exhibit at the gardens is by Tetsunori Kawana and Stephan Talasnik featuring bamboo. They were beautiful and all over the gardens.
Another of our favorite plants we discovered today was the prickly water lily. They were really cool sitting next to a regular water lily that was pretty smooth and then this bumpy guy. We were able to touch one of them and it was very bumpy and even had spikes.
I don't know why but we found a ton of spider webs covered in dew all over the gardens - it could be the lack of rain but everyone time we found one we had to take a picture. I saved you all from seeing each and every one and picked just one.
More of the artwork.
Of course, we had to stop and see the fish and of course, we forgot the fish food again but we still watched for a bit. They started on the top and then eventually they were all laying down trying to get a fish to bite their fingers.
When we entered the gardens, N asked if we could see the Venus Flytrap. I said of course and then he asked if they had one large enough that could eat a mammoth. A mammoth? I don't think they are that big. He also talked about how their teeth eat their food and could bite your finger off. I tried to explain that wasn't true but he didn't believe me until we found the plant and read the sign that described how they use juices to absorb their nutrients. He still wanted to see a large one. I finally convinced him to ask someone that worked at the garden if there was such a large Venus Flytrap. N was very disappointed to find out they don't exist.
After seeing the gardens we ate lunch in the shade and then headed to Girl Scouts to pick up some stuff. On the way home Andrew fell asleep in the car (no naps all week). We played at home for about 30 minutes before we headed to Cairn's last book club meeting. Andrew was still asleep so the kids went inside my friend's house while I stayed in the car with Andrew.
After book club, we dropped off N and C at home and then went to a local school to set up a Girl Scout table at their Back to School Night. We hung out for about 20 minutes and then headed to the library so I could set up for my Unit meeting. Dad picked up the kids at the library while I ran my meeting. I was finally home at 9 PM. Dad had everyone bathed and ready for bed so off they trotted to bed and I followed shortly after. Exhausted from being up since 2 AM. Tomorrow promises to be a little slower.
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