A Day at Longwood

   Last Saturday Dr Daddy unfortunately had hospital duty, so wanting to do something nice for the kids and knowing from emails from the garden that the tulips were in bloom I loaded everyone up and we headed about an hour south to Longwood Gardens.

   First we went to the the Flower Walk were I try and take in as much flower beauty as is possible without losing track of any of the littles who head through this area much quicker than I do.

Then we visited two of the three tree houses.

Next per Liam's request we went to see the banana trees in the Conservatory

 Next we played in the Children's Castle, a favorite filled with fountains to play in and alcoves to explore. Unfortunately no pictures as it was very crowded and Caitlin was very interested in splashing in all of the fountains.

Next a game or two of hide-and-seek in the Topiary Garden

And then it was time to head home, as I hash-tagged on my Instagram 

#exhausted but worth it

Quick Takes 82

1. Late post because this morning saw our house again under siege as we saw finally the end of the repairs to our family room following the hailstorm LAST June. Incidentally there was a hailstorm last night: No Damage!

2. Splash fest: Joint baths are starting to show up as Liam is much more stable sitting-up ~ and I'm think I'm going to start wearing a raincoat (or a bathing suit) ~ but such fun to watch!

3. The current heat wave made it very apparent that summer if not already here is soon to be and so making use of the childcare at our local Y, I have begun working out again. The kids and I are still working out the kinks but bathing suit season here we come.

4. Plants have been planted ~ hopefully vegetables are growing. Having successfully grown tomatoes in a container last year, this year we are progressing to planting in the ground.

5. Favorite moment of the week: While sitting outside Lisbeth's gymnastic class came to realize that Liam was playing peek-a-boo with me. He was lifting a cloth over his face, then dropping it and grinning at me.

6. Graduation season is upon us, friends are completing their degrees, neighbors & second cousins have finished high school ~ Best wishes to them and all in the Class of 2011.

7. Contemplating a road trip this weekend. Whatever yours brings you ~ have a good one.

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Quick Takes Vol. #55: VA trip wrap-up!

1. Last weekends trip to visit my family in VA was very successful with E. traveling well and having fun playing with her cousins, who no longer consider her a baby ~ partly because there is now a new baby and partly because she now joins in their games.

2 Took the opportunity off having all the cousins together to take pictures, after which someone commented that this likely the last photo of the six cousins before the seventh arrives.

3. Part of the weekend also included a trip to a community pool that my sisters belong to. It was really nice to see Lisbeth playing with her cousins in the baby pool, and after some encouragement having fun in the big pool also.

4. My trip allowed me to miss the big wind/hail storm which came thru a week ago. We lost power for about twenty hours (which seems to be the average; with some people never losing power and some just recently getting it back). Amazingly the only real damage we sustained was the cracking of one of our skylights cover domes.

5. This was our first long trip since turning Lisbeth's car seat forward facing~ required a new approach to handing things to her, but I think helped that we were looking a the same view.

6. The storm blew down many of my growing tomatoes but a few were spared for my first official harvest of homegrown produce. Yay!!

7. Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy July 4th weekend!!

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