The cruel irony of fun, busy days is that by the time I get around to going through all of the pictures I took of us having fun, I'm exhausted and I just want to go to bed.
Today was definitely a fun, busy day. We had planned to lay low and just hang out at home today. Chris got up with the kids, took them to the nearby high school track to play (it's one of their favorite things to do!), took them to Caleb's preschool to play on the playground, and came home to eat breakfast. But when I realized how truly lovely the weather was after a week of unbearable heat, we decided to do something fun. I suggested the lake, then the Garden, and the kids were adamant: they wanted to go to the Botanical Garden. It just happens to be the big Japanese festival there this weekend, so a quick call to my dad procured us tickets for us and for Amber and her kids (who, happily, were available for a spur-of-the-moment visit). We hopped in the car, and away we went!
We met up with Amber and her kids in the children's area, where there was face painting (Caleb chose an American flag, and Daisy wanted Hello, Kitty but backed out at the last minute) and Japanese clothing for the kids to try on.
Caleb was so excited to try on this kimono. It had beetles on it, and he chose the red sash himself. (You know, red is his favorite color...)
He spent quite a while solemnly inspecting himself in the mirror.
Then Mary joined him, dressed in a kimono of her own.
This picture kills me!
The child looks so utterly miserable, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't. I don't understand him at all.
Goodness. Aren't they darling?
Then out to the beautiful sunshine. Daisy kept asking if she could touch the water.
We walked over to a martial arts demonstration, said goodbye to Amber and her family, and headed to the Japanese Garden. Lily was wrapped up on my chest the whole time, and I must say that she rocked her first Garden visit!
Because Daddy was there, the kids got to walk on the zigzag bridge. Caleb was terrified. Can you tell?
The pond in the Japanese Garden is filled with koi, and there are large koi flags hanging throughout the garden. Caleb loved them, and kept asking if we could have a fish flag.
Wouldn't you know it... on our way out, a vendor was selling fish flags. Normally Chris and I don't buy souvenir-type junk; we have enough junk in our house, and we're much too cheap to waste our money on even more junk. But Caleb and Daisy really liked the fishy flags. And when we found a vendor selling several flags on a stick with ribbons...
Well, we caved. But it was so much fun, and the kids love them!
While the kids had fun playing with their flags, I had fun playing with sun flare. I'm still not entirely clear on how to control/manufacture it, but it was fun to experiment.
After I showed him a picture of himself with a rainbow on him, Caleb willingly posed for many more pictures.
HA!
This totally reminds me of Waiting for Guffman.
(Did you know that Chris and I watched this movie with Amber and Michael the night of our senior prom? Who ever would have thought we'd all end up married, playing with our children 15 years later...)
I love this shot. Do you see why it was so much fun for us to buy them those silly little fish?
Happy, happy children.
But this blog is supposed to be about Lily now!
Chris grabbed the camera and took a few pictures of her while I held her.
She was rocking a baby mohawk today.
Hi, sweet girl!
Caleb, tooting his horn for the camera. After I took his picture, he asked to see it. His first comment? "Where's the rainbow?" There was no rainbow, so we had to take another one with some sun flare in it.
Meanwhile, Daisy wanted to hold her sister's hand, so I helped a little bit.
"She holdin' my hand!"
These girls. How sweet.
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