Monday, Monday

Monday was a little rough, I won’t lie.  All three of us just seemed grouchier than normal (or maybe I was the grouchier one and Frances and George are 3 ½ and 1 ½ years old) and things that would normally just roll off my back got stuck there, festered and then exploded.

So, rather than bore you with the details of our arduous day, I thought I’d post some pictures of our last outing to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.  I can’t look at these without smiling and feeling immediate appreciation for our gorgeous city and my (mostly) well-behaved children.

This trip we made our way to the conservatory building first, which has been under construction and difficult to view with small children.  We were the only three people in the entire building and we had a blast.  I didn’t take nearly enough pictures because I was so concerned that my little gardener-in-the-making (or maybe plant killer) George was going to overturn the rare orchids.  But he didn’t and all three of us truly enjoyed ourselves.



Some of the many orchids (these safely out of George's reach)





Stargazers - one of my favorites





Hydrangeas just make me happy





One of several huge rooms - this one houses the Christmas tree and train set in winter.





I've always loved this little house




You can't go in, but you can see what is inside through this glass wall.  There is always something different.




Something for the adults!



We eventually made our way down to the children’s garden as we always do and made a beeline for Frances’s favorite part, the sandbox.  Frances was a perfect angel while George and I had a battle of the wills when he started throwing sand for no reason after I told him several times not to throw the sand (why do they do that??  And it’s always in front of those nice parents that you are thinking would be lovely to meet and make friends with; after George’s behavior and my necessary reaction I was too horrified to approach the subject).

Another great outing to “the flower garden” as Frances calls it.

Ahhhh, thank you.  I needed that!